REPUBLIC of Ireland women’s manager Vera Pauw has again strenuously rejected historic allegations of mistreating some players while she was coaching American club Houston Dash – and insisted that “you can’t defend yourself against a lie”.
Last December, Pauw dismissed findings in a National Women’s Soccer League report - where it alleged she body-shamed a player during her stint there in 2018.
The Dutch coach received the backing of the Football Association of Ireland.
But the allegations have resurfaced in an article published in The Athletic this week in which Pauw contributed to in an attempt to defend her reputation.
Speaking on the eve of Ireland’s first appearance at the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand later this month, Pauw spent most of her press briefing ahead of Thursday’s final warm-up game against France defending herself against anonymized allegations.
“I don’t want to go into details but this is nonsense and untrue,” said an impassioned Pauw. “As I said before, there is great safety in the truth. That truth is with me and people who know me knows it is not true. I now need my full energy for my players.”
