Football Ferns players expressed concerns to the sport’s national body over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a player by outgoing coach Jitka Klimkova. 

The players have said this was the incident that earlier this year resulted in a third-party independent employment investigation. After the investigation, New Zealand Football (NZF) cleared the Czech coach to return to work. She then skipped the Paris Olympics before standing down from her role earlier this month. 

The complainant told the players that the conduct occurred at the end of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup after they had been knocked out of the tournament and it happened off the field. 

Ten of the complainant’s teammates spoke with the Herald about the incident after the majority of the current squad had written formal letters to New Zealand Football (NZF). 

The letters are believed to include criticism of the national body’s handling of the matter and concerns about the unprofessionalism of the incident. 

One player told the Herald: “NZF have created an environment where players are fearful of reporting issues. They need to take huge strides to improve their safeguarding, which at the moment feels non-existent.” 

“This whole situation has been handled poorly, it feels as though there’s been little regard for player safety and wellbeing,” added another. 

The player involved has not spoken to the Herald about the incident, and the Herald has agreed not to name the player or her teammates. 

In a statement to the Herald, NZF and the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association (NZPFA) said the report into the incident was completed by “a highly qualified independent workplace investigator”. 

“The parties accepted the investigation findings and NZF took legal advice on its course of action to ensure it was appropriate, making sure to inform the relevant parties to the complaint of the outcome and actions.” 

The statement added: “Following the outcome of the investigation, the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association, as the representative body of the players, and NZF worked together to engage a restorative process to enable all parties to come together, however, owing to time constraints, this was unable to be completed before the Paris 2024 Olympics.” 

A screenshot image, seen by the Herald, shows New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell joined a video call with the complainant and teammates. While the complainant was visibly upset, Pragnell had his camera switched off and those in attendance believe he demonstrated little sympathy. 

Former Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova (2023). Photo / Photosport 

A player said: “I don’t think [NZF] took it anywhere near seriously enough, and I don’t think there was anywhere near enough player protection by a country mile.” 

Another explained how dealing with an incident in elite-level sport is far different to most other work environments. 

“As a sport and as an athlete, when you’re on a team with the coach, this isn’t a boss that you meet once every two months in a boardroom. This is someone who decides your career. 

“They call all of the shots. 

“You live in the same place with them, you eat your meals with them, you are with them 24/7 for weeks at a time.” 

At one point, mediation was arranged between NZF staff and players in different time zones. However, the Herald understands NZF pulled out at the last minute, with no warning to the team. 

The players say their motivation for action was not a drive to have Klimkova fired, but instead to ensure player welfare. 

“Our biggest concern was our teammates and how people would feel being in an environment when there was confusion and an uncomfortable feeling,” another player told the Herald. 

The Herald understands the complainant reported the incident to the governing body around the time of the Oceania Olympic Qualifiers in Samoa, in February. 

Several players noted that from this point, in their view, the handling of the entire incident was poor. 

Players were told a third-party investigation would be conducted, but the Spain camp in June would proceed with Klimkova. 

When hearing this, one player noted: “We all said, ‘What is going on? Our poor teammates’.” 

Discouraged by what they considered to be a lack of action by NZF, about eight players raised concerns by writing letters to the national body. 

“We went through all the right processes: we contacted our players’ association, said we are concerned for the safety of players’ mental health and emotional wellbeing,” said a player. 

NZF announced on May 26 that Klimkova wouldn’t stay in Spain for the matches against Japan while an “investigation is concluded into an employment-related matter”. 

Klimkova’s assistant Michael Mayne was the interim coach for that tour. 

Klimkova was set to return for the Olympics, however, 20 days later, it was announced she had decided to stand aside for the Paris Games. 

Considering the events that had unfolded, one player said she was relieved at hearing Klimkova would no longer take charge of the side in Paris. 

“That’s not an environment I would feel comfortable going into with her.” 

Andrew Pragnell, chief executive officer of New Zealand Football. Photo / Photosport 

Around this time, NZF and the NZPFA hired an external company to determine whether or not the relationship between Klimkova and players was reconcilable. 

The group spoken to by the Herald said 20 players and two staff members were involved in a reconciliation process, in which they were asked to write letters and have interviews. 

They were told there was not enough time between the interviews and the Olympics to reconcile the relationship or to go through the restorative justice process to mend bridges that had been fractured over the past two years. 

Players were told by NZF a restorative justice process would commence between players and Klimkova after the Olympics. 

After the Olympics, players asked for an update and were told by NZF a resolution would be announced in the coming days. The players found out about Klimkova’s departure from the team one day before it was announced publicly on September 13. 

Jitka Klimkova joined the side as coach in 2021. Photo / Photosport 

Players remain frustrated at the messaging from their governing body throughout the year. 

NZF’s statement on June 28 that said Klimkova would stand aside for Paris stated: “Klimkova has taken the view that due to concerns in relation to the team environment, her wellbeing, and a restorative process having not been completed, it would not be the right time for her to return.” 

Players believe this proves NZF “ignored” the report summarising concerns from 22 players, with one saying they felt that NZF had no regard for player wellbeing. 

They also questioned why Pragnell told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB’s Weekend Sport on September 14 that “there was nothing in that investigation that told me that she was not fit to be a coach”. 

Players said this statement was interesting as they feel Klimkova has breached the NZF Code of Conduct. 

A passage from the New Zealand Football Code of Conduct. 

One player took exception to Pragnell’s comments: ”I would like a CEO who stands up for my team, the players and myself.” 

Pragnell also said in the interview: “In a squad of 23 people, there’s 23 different views. I would say we’ve got some pretty diverse views amongst the squad.” 

Players told the Herald that they considered this comment misleading, noting that 20 players came forward. 

To avoid similar experiences in the future, one player advised the governing body to reconsider how complaints are addressed. 

“Anyone who reports something needs to be supported and helped on that journey. [NZF] made it as hard as possible for [the complainant] and she struggled a lot.” 

Full statement from the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association and New Zealand Football: 

In April 2024, New Zealand Football received approval from a complainant to progress an investigation into an incident in the Football Ferns team environment. 

A highly qualified independent workplace investigator was appointed who undertook a thorough and confidential workplace investigation, and made findings available to the parties in May. 

The parties accepted the investigation findings and NZF took legal advice on its course of action to ensure it was appropriate, making sure to inform the relevant parties to the complaint of the outcome and actions. As is standard in workplace investigations, details of the investigation are not made public and findings are strictly confidential. 

Following the outcome of the investigation, the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association, as the representative body of the players, and NZF, worked together to engage a restorative process to enable all parties to come together, however, owing to time constraints, this was unable to be completed before the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

NZF and the NZPFA have worked collaboratively following the formal investigation and are now focused squarely on the future to ensure the team is in the best place to qualify for, and succeed at, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027. We will not be making any further comment on this matter. 

Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast, and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.