The president of the National Association of Coaches, José Pereira, says he is surprised by the allegations of sexual harassment in Portuguese football, an unprecedented case so far.
Several players from the Rio Ave women’s soccer team accuse the former coach of harassing them with inappropriate messages. The coach is no longer at Rio Ave and, despite several warnings from the players, he is now the coach of the Famalicão main team.
In statements to TSFJosé Pereira says he has never heard of sexual harassment complaints in women’s football despite the fact that many teams are managed by men.
“We already have some ladies who are filling positions. In the main teams – at Benfica and Sporting – there are ladies who are occupying those positions. But anyway, the beginning of women’s football was done through male coaches and there has never been any kind of a situation like that.”
The president of the National Association of Coaches calls for a thorough investigation and severe punishment if the allegations are confirmed.
“If there are several people denouncing this type of situation, there will probably be something that is not consistent with what the relationship between coaches and players should be. Those who do will be severely sanctioned.”
“It is not admissible for a person to take advantage of the situation to be able to carry out this type of action in relation to their athletes,” reinforces José Pereira, requesting the intervention of the courts and the Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation to “for by all means, effectively determine the truth.
The Disciplinary Council has already announced that it will open a disciplinary file for the case. “Disciplinary Regulations […] has specific punishments for cases of harassment and the FPF has long had a complaint platform for these and other situations,” the organization responded in a note sent to TSF.
“Being true, these people have to be severely punished and removed, even from football itself,” defends José Pereira.
According to the newspaper Público, which reported the case, the president of Famalicão was alerted to the serious signs of sexual harassment, but assured that the matter would be resolved after discussing the matter with those responsible for women’s football.
Source: TSF
