Ireland coach Pauw denies NWSL report allegations

The coach of the Irish women's national team called allegations of weight shaming during her time as a coach in the National Women's Soccer League «absolutely ridiculous and false.»

«There's no truth in it,» Vera Pauw said Friday in advance of a pair of matches against the United States, the first set for Saturday at Austin's Q2 Stadium.

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The allegations against Pauw, who coached the Houston Dash in 2018, were outlined in a report resulting from an investigation into misconduct in the league that was released in December.

The overall investigation by the NWSL and its players union found widespread abuse and mistreatment of players. It followed a separate investigation commissioned by U.S. Soccer that found emotional abuse and sexual misconduct were systemic in the sport, impacting multiple teams, coaches and players.

According to the report, players said Pauw wanted to exert control over «every aspect of [their] lives,» including «everything you were putting in your body, every exercise you were doing.»

The report also said she did not want players to weight train because they might become too bulky, and once body shamed a player who had pulled up her shirt to wipe her face.

Pauw, a former Dutch national team player, vociferously defended herself. She has been coach of the Irish women since 2019.

«I think the only thing I can do is say the truth. There's no reason for having any doubt in the way I am dealing with teams,» she said. «In that report, there's things said like body shaming, which is absolutely false. If there's one thing that I don't do, it is body shaming. There is no scale in my dressing room, there's no fat percentages taken.»

The report said Pauw did not