Sarah Harte: Pauw’s exit indicative of double standards in corridors of power

It has been reported that Vera Pauw’s exit will be the focus of tomorrow’s FAI press conference and not the less-than-stellar men’s team performance in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.

There’s a certain irony that while once women’s soccer wouldn’t make the back page of a local paper, in fact, Pet’s Corner would have trumped it, these days it’s never out of the headlines. However, this has more to do with the male executives who run the game than the women who play it. This story has played out both in Spain and in Ireland.

Last Sunday, Luis Rubiales, the head of the Spanish Football Federation, finally announced his decision to resign. Earlier in the week, mid-fielder Jenni Hermoso had filed a criminal complaint against Rubiales for sexual assault relating to his forced kiss of her during the post-match World Cup celebrations.