Dutch coach Vera Bauff of Ireland’s women’s national team confirmed on Friday that she was raped and sexually assaulted by three men working in Dutch football when she was a player, expressing regret that the local association had not handled her accusations properly.
Bauff’s comments led to an apology from the Dutch Football Association, which considered it “unacceptable that you do not benefit from a safe working environment.”
Bauff, 59, is one of the pioneers of women’s football in the Netherlands.
“For 35 years, I’ve kept this a secret from the rest of the world, my family, my teammates and my players,” she wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
She added, “Even those close to me do not know about this rape, which was committed by an important football official when I was a young player.” Later, I was the target of two more attacks by two other men. All three were working in Dutch football at the time.
“Only those I trust knew before today the systematic sexual abuse, abuse of power, bullying, intimidation and isolation I faced as a player and coach of the national team in Dutch football,” said Bauff, who was awarded an honorary award by the Dutch Football Association in 2017.
Over the past few years, I have tried to ensure that this case is investigated in a fair and equitable manner by the Dutch football authorities, but to no avail. Some people preferred not to publicize this rape and sexual assault rather than give me the support I needed to tell this story.
“I can no longer remain silent,” said Bauff, who announced that she had lodged a complaint with the Dutch police.
For its part, the Dutch Football Association confirmed that it was “very shocked by the events that Vera described to us during last year’s conversation” and that it had subsequently entrusted an investigation to an independent body.
The agency highlighted a number of errors in the way the attacks against Bauff were handled and the fact that the union “did not react quickly enough to Bauff’s first alerts of sexual inappropriate behavior in 2011”.