Vera Pauw insists her fitness regime helped, not hindered, players

Pauw insists she's got the full support of her employers. Indeed, she is considering taking legal action in a bid to clear her name of any wrongdoing

COMING OUT FIGHTING: Ireland manager Vera Pauw. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The FAI top brass could do with weight being lifted off their shoulders and Vera Pauw’s contention that she outlaws weightlifting may introduce context to the historical misconduct claims she’s facing.

Pauw appeared at a press conference on Friday, less than 48 hours after a joint report between the National Women's Soccer League and the players’ union named her among 10 personnel facing allegations.

Not only had the Dutchwoman – who has led Ireland to next July’s World Cup in Australia – been accused of weight-shaming players and exerting excessive control over their eating habits but the law firms involved claim she failed to cooperate with their investigations.

The incidents relate to Pauw’s time in charge of Houston Dash from November 2017 to September 2018.

Since arriving in Dublin on Thursday night, the coaching veteran has met with FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill and Football Director Marc Canham, insisting she’s got the full support of her employers. Indeed, she is considering taking legal action in a bid to clear her name of any wrongdoing.

She had released a personal statement before the press briefing explaining how her interview with the investigators was curtailed when they refused to allow her to record the virtual call.

“Me being accused of saying players were too big is absolute nonsense,” she asserted.

“I don’t care about the body composition of players. I don’t care about fat percentage, I care about whether they can execute their tasks.

“Meeting one player who came from college one for the first time, she said ‘I want to lose weight’.

“I said ‘do not diet’ because that will not help you. ‘You just need to get fit, you’re absolutely ok the way you are like everybody because we are not all the same. We have different bodies and it’s about how you execute your tasks’.

“So halfway through the season, it went really well. Her tests on recoveries from explosive actions and I said ‘You’re going really well, your snappiness is getting better’ and it shows we’re on the right track.

“Now I read that I’ve said to this player that she has lost weight. I don’t even know if she had lost weight, I don’t care if she’s lost weight or gained weight, I only care about the execution of tasks, like the same here in Ireland.

She added about further discussions with the squad: “Then they said ‘we couldn’t do our weightlifting programme’. That is right, I advised them not to do weightlifting. I don’t know whether they followed that but I advised them not to do weightlifting. I said ‘we load you to the max, 100 percent actions, so if you on top of that do weightlifting we could have done more. Do you get that?

“I advised them not to do weightlifting.

“It’s very technical but on the big muscle groups you get strength whereas in football you need to move from the core.

“That brings groin injuries, hamstring injuries and, especially, ACL ruptures. I’ve always worked like that and I’ve proven with my methods that ACL ruptures are out of the scene. That is why I advised against weightlifting and they use it now as, what did they say, I had excessive control over their lives.

“Then they said about food, if anything the only thing I have been asking is to get enough intake before and after the game, protein shakes after the training.

“I’ve never spoken about eating less, only about eating more because most of the players did not eat enough.

“The medical staff was not at this moment in the room so we had discussed and I had agreed I would encourage them to eat more, not less. I just care that they have enough energy in their body to execute their tasks.

“I cannot recall anything (negative). I have asked my assistant, Shilene Booysen, 'Please tell me is there any moment that I've said something that could have been misinterpreted?' And she said, 'Absolutely, at no moment.' She was always with me when I was talking to players, she was always there at any moment; in meetings, on the pitch, with players; and she said, 'Never, ever. I can only recall you encouraging players to eat more.” 

Pauw, who also managed her native Netherlands as well as Scotland and South Africa before the interlude in America on her way to taking over Ireland in September 2019, is assessing her options.

“We are looking into whether legal actions are necessary,” she said. “But who would you bring forward? The players? The investigators? NWSL? I don't know.

“Because the things that are written can be seen as an opinion, but [whether] it ruins your life, or at least your profession, is something that maybe a judge would not really take care of.

“But if so, if there is an opening, and if the way that the investigators have treated is out of the lines of legality, then I will take action. I have to take action, I have to protect myself if I can protect myself.”