VERA PAUW HAS refuted all allegations made against her in the recent NWSL / NWSLPA report, describing them as “an insult to my personal values and to my behaviour as coach”.

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, the Republic of Ireland boss said that “I have spent my entire career fighting for my players and now I must fight for myself”.

Pauw was named in the report published on Wednesday which investigated historic allegations of the mistreatment of players in America’s National Women’s Soccer League, relating to her time as head coach of Houston Dash in 2018.

The allegations against Pauw concerned comments regarding players’ weight and attempts to influence their eating habits, which she denied in full in a written statement to the investigation committee.

“I want to refute every allegation made against me from my time at Houston Dash,” she said in her first public comment since the report’s publication.

Player welfare has always been of the utmost importance to me throughout my career. Nutrition is a hugely important aspect of professional football and my advice to players has always been to look after their nutritional needs and their health – and to always seek the advice of medical experts.

“To suggest I would body shame any human being, footballer or not, is an insult to my personal values and to my behaviour as coach and I cannot allow this claim to go unchallenged.” 

The FAI expressed their support for Pauw in a statement of their own issued on Thursday evening, stating that the Association “continues to support Vera and her team as they prepare for the upcoming Fifa Women’s World Cup in 2023”. 

FAI Chairperson Roy Barrett said: “If we judge Vera since she has been at the FAI, she has been a fantastic ambassador, there is no sense of any of these behaviours and there is a clear sense she would not tolerate it.”

Pauw also rejected the claim of the NWSL / NWSLPA report which said that she “appeared for but refused to cooperate in an interview with the Joint Investigative Team, but she provided a written denial of what she suspected were the allegations against her, including a statement that she has never remarked on any player’s appearance.”

Pauw said that this suggestion was “untrue”.

“I accepted an invitation to join a video call, on September 29th, on which there were four people and me,” she explained.

“I asked to record the call but they said that this could not happen and they refused to answer any of my questions before they ended the call. I then wrote a 13-page letter to outline my experience of my time at Houston and offered to re-engage with them but they never responded.”

Pauw is due to speak to the media at FAI headquarters in Abbotstown at 2pm this afternoon. 

Full statement issued by Vera Pauw

I would like to issue a brief statement in response to the allegations made against me in the NWSL / NWSLPA joint investigation and in subsequent statements issued by the NWSL and Houston Dash.

Firstly, I would like to express my disappointment at the manner in which this investigation was conducted, the way I was treated when I tried to engage with the investigation and the lack of engagement around the publication of the report and statements to the media.

The Report suggests that I did not co-operate with the Investigation Team, which is untrue. I accepted an invitation to join a video call, on September 29th, on which there were four people and me. I asked to record the call but they said that this could not happen and they refused to answer any of my questions before they ended the call. I then wrote a 13-page letter to outline my experience of my time at Houston and offered to re-engage with them but they never responded.

I want to refute every allegation made against me from my time at Houston Dash. Player welfare has always been of the utmost importance to me throughout my career. Nutrition is a hugely important aspect of professional football and my advice to players has always been to look after their nutritional needs and their health – and to always seek the advice of medical experts.

To suggest I would body shame any human being, footballer or not, is an insult to my personal values and to my behaviour as coach and I cannot allow this claim to go unchallenged.

I would like to thank all those who have spoken out in support of me since these allegations were made public on Wednesday evening. I appreciate the continued backing of the FAI as we look forward to the FIFA Women’s World Cup next summer.

I will continue to defend myself against all these claims. I have spent my entire career fighting for my players and now I must fight for myself. I am extremely frustrated that I have been targeted in such a disappointing manner. I cannot allow my name to be attached to such false accusations.