Ireland manager Vera Pauw rejects US Soccer sanctions and denies weight-shaming allegations

Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw has rejected sanctions handed down by US Soccer in the wake of accusations that she weight shamed players and attempted to exert excessive control over their eating habits during her one season as Houston Dash coach in 2017/18.

Pauw strenuously denies the allegations and refuses to partake in corrective actions outlined by the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), which includes acknowledging misconduct and participating in a training course before she can coach professionally in the US again.

“I need to do a course,” said Pauw at the announcement of her Ireland squad to face Germany and China later this month. “I should deliver that course.”

FAI chairman Roy Barrett previously gave Pauw the full backing of the association, describing the NWSL decision to name the Dutch coach in an independent report into systematic abuses within US soccer as a “sham process” and “grossly unfair”.

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“I will stay loud,” said Pauw, “every time somebody says [the allegations], I will be loud. I am not going to, like people say, sit in a corner and let the storm go over you – I will be the storm.

“If you know me, when the tweets came out last year, those nasty tweets, I tried to be silent but that’s not me and I will be absolutely honest and clear, because of that I have been loud and honest.

“I am ready for the World Cup and to go into camp in a positive way. I have my energy back, so for me education is better than fighting but I will never let anyone say that I have done what has been written in that report, I will never let people say that I did not co-operate, I will not let go that people put lies about me, I will not let that go anymore.”

The NWSL report states that Dash “players credibly reported” Pauw for criticising appearances, “with no apparent correlation to performance or health”. It adds that Pauw “appeared to want to control and micromanage players’ diets and exercise regimens even when her weight-loss directives were inconsistent with sports medicine best practices” and it suggested her actions “affected a team-mate struggling with an eating disorder”.

Again, Pauw denies these accusations and despite her work load in a World Cup year, the 60-year-old is writing a book about load management and “how to train a player safely” in the wake of a shocking number of ACL ruptures. Of the current Irish squad, four players are returning from knee ligament tears, with Ellen Molloy and Jess Ziu ruled out of the tournament that starts against hosts Australia on July 20th in Sydney.

“When I was with the Netherlands, I came in and there was an epidemic of ACLs. We put in the same programme, evolved with it with the medical staff, getting it better and better and better. In nine weeks of preparations for the [2009] European championships, two days between games, and there were zero injuries.

“I think I am the only coach in the world who set the training load on live heart rates, with sports scientists keeping track of the heart rates during our training sessions. Why are we always ready to play? Why can we always push after the 90 minutes?

“I wish people would ask, ‘Vera, how do you do that?’ and what are the principles because maybe we can learn from it and together we could grow in a safe environment for players.”

Ahead of a 10 day training camp in Marbella, Spain, that includes a non-capped match against Germany next Friday and a full international versus China on February 22nd, Pauw called up Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion and former Penn State track star Marissa Sheva from the Washington Spirit.

Both qualify for Ireland via relatives with Mannion’s mother hailing from Mayo and father from Galway while Sheva’s grandparents are from Tyrone and Donegal.

New Shamrock Rovers signings Áine O’Gorman and Abbie Larkin are the only home based players named in a 26 strong group that must be reduced to 23 before the World Cup.

The FAI also intend to secure a penultimate friendly on June 22nd, before the France match in Tallaght on July 6th, with the Aviva stadium unavailable due to pitch maintenance work, to ensure a smooth surface for two male rugby internationals in August and the money spinning American Football game between Notre Dame and Navy.

“We’ve done everything [to secure the Aviva],” said Pauw. “We’ve tried to discuss the maintenance schedule. It’s a shame. But we’re happy at Tallaght stadium.

“This would have been a perfect moment because I think the send-off game, there’d be massive interest for it. People really tried. It’s much more complicated than just a choice.”

The Aviva stadium has never hosted a women’s international in football or rugby.