Pauw contradicts allegations in US women’s soccer misconduct report

A second report has emerged of widespread misconduct in the National Women’s Soccer League, the top women’s professional soccer league in the United States. A notable name that falls into this realm is that of Vera Pauw, who was in charge of Houston Dash in 2018.

Pauw, former Dutch national manager and now successful with the Ireland women’s team which she managed to guide to the 2023 World Cup, is allegedly guilty of making comments about being overweight – in his eyes – of certain players.

She also allegedly tried to exercise excessive control over the eating habits of football players. For example, she discouraged them from eating fruit because of its sugar content.

According to the report, Pauw criticized the players for being “too fat” while openly praising others for losing weight. There was no link to health or performance. According to the players, one of them suffered from an eating disorder following the comments made by the Amsterdam player.

The report says that although Pauw appeared before the investigation team, she refused to cooperate and then limited herself to a written denial of what she “believed” to be the allegations against her. She also spoke out against comments about a player’s appearance.

Pauw informs NOS that things went differently. “Of course, I cooperated. Immediately. I only wanted to record the conversation. I was there alone with four members of the research team. They then unilaterally stopped the conversation.”

“That’s why I put my story in writing. Because I wanted to cooperate and be open. But apparently I had to appear in this investigation anyway. I can’t say anything more about it now, but it will come, for it is far on my borders.”

The FAI, the Football Association of Ireland, sees no reason to take action at this time. On the contrary, the association say they fully support Pauw in his preparation with the national team for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Ireland qualified for this world final for the first time.

The research team’s findings largely coincided with the results of another independent study published in October. The team received reports of continued misconduct at “more than half” of NWSL clubs during the 14-month investigation.