Vera Pauw labels weight shaming allegations 'false accusations'

Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw has claimed that the historic weight shaming allegations made against her are 'false'.

The 59-year-old was named in the report of the NWSL and NWSLPA's joint investigation into allegations of abuse and misconduct in the NWSL on Wednesday.

The report alleges that Pauw 'shamed players for their weight and attempted to exert excessive control over their eating habits' during her time in charge of Houston Dash between September 2017 and September 2018. Players reported that the former Netherlands defender's comments affected a teammate struggling with an eating disorder.

"I want to refute every allegation made against me from my time at Houston Dash," a statement released by Pauw read.

"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."

Pauw has been in charge of the Republic of Ireland since 2019, and guided the team to qualification for their first ever Women's World Cup earlier this year. The FAI released a statement on Thursday pledging their support for their manager following the allegations.

"I would like to thank all those who have spoken out in support of me since these allegations were made public on Wednesday evening," Pauw continued. "I appreciate the continued backing of the FAl 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."

The report also stated that the Republic of Ireland manager appeared for an interview with the investigation team but 'refused to cooperate.' She instead provided a written statement denying what she suspected were the allegations against her.

Pauw has stated that claims she refused to co-operate are 'untrue' and her subsequent offer to re-engage with the investigation did not receive a reply.

"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," she added.

"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."