Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw claimed "elite sport in the USA has a huge problem" as she reflected on the sanctions handed down to her by the US National Women's Soccer League [NWSL].
Last month the NWSL sanctioned several coaches, including Pauw, as part of their corrective action in response to the findings of the Joint Investigative Report.
Pauw is among eight individuals whose future employment with the NWSL is conditional on her acknowledging misconduct, participating in training, and demonstrating a sincere commitment to correcting behaviour.
In December Pauw was named in the report, which alleged that while manager of Houston Dash from November 2017 to September 2018 she had shamed players for their weight and attempted to exert excessive control over their eating habits. She was emphatically denied the allegations.
When asked about her reaction to the NWSL sanctions, Pauw replied: "I've been in contact with a lawyer, I don't want to say too much because I have moved on and he has, it is important to know, 215 cases from elite female coaches that have lost their jobs or being cancelled for unreasonable situations and lies.
"Every single coach in those 215 cases have experienced the same thing as I do now. I'm the most visible coach because I’m international.
"Elite sport in the USA has a huge problem.
"Two hundred and fifteen cases like mine, all in the US, elite female coaches from different sports: university, college level, professional level. I think education brings us more than fighting.
"In the meantime I have got many letters from people, players and coaches and staff who have written to me to support me. I have grown into the situation. It's like, I know where I am, there is great safety in the truth and let's do something about this together, choose the educational side instead of the fighting."
Emphasising her determination to clear her name, Pauw added: "I will stay loud, every time somebody says it I will be loud. I am not going to, like people say, sit in a corner and let the storm get over you. Be the storm.
"I am ready for the World Cup, 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."
"I've said before that there has been offers on my plate during my career in Ireland, and I didn't even want to talk about it..."
Pauw's contract with Ireland expires after the World Cup. FAI CEO Jonathan Hill recently confirmed there'd been no talks about a fresh deal and no plans to sit down with the coach either as both parties are keen to focus solely on the summer tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Pauw said she's thankful to the FAI for giving her time and space to do her job after what's been a rollercoaster six months.
"I was in a situation emotionally with a lot of negative stuff around me, also all the stuff that was on my plate from July, and qualifying," she added.
"I was up and down, and up and down - that was not a moment to discuss this, and Jonathan said to me, 'we felt that if we put this also now on your plate, that is not fair, that's putting pressure on you'.
"I thanked him. I said, 'I trust you, I feel that you trust me, I will not have any discussion with anyone else, and everyone knows... I've said before that there has been offers on my plate during my career in Ireland, and I didn't even want to talk about it because when I commit to somebody, I commit to somebody.
"For now, we've committed to each other, and after everything has been put in place [we will see] because I need all my energy to put the best programme for these players in place. It's about the players, it's not about me, and after we have done that, then we are going to talk about the future.
"I need to get the best programme for these players for the World Cup, but everybody feels where my heart is, everybody feels how grateful I am to Ireland, everybody feels my connection with the players.
"And what I feel is the connection from Ireland with me. There's not a single cell in my brain that thinks any different, but I want to put it forward, and please give me that space."
