After the hiring of coach Craig Harrington, accused by the Utah club of verbal abuse and sexist comments to female players, America “sends a powerful message that shows disinterest towards women”, while evading “the intention to create spaces free of violence, ”said Claudia Pedraza, a specialist in gender and sports issues and a researcher at La Salle University.
“Although a person can be trained and sensitized, it is unfortunate that the most mediatic club in the League has not made an analysis when hiring a coach when he was able to look for someone with a better profile and record, because these accusations must be considered,” he said. the specialist.
After the departure of Leonardo Cuéllar in the middle of the last tournament, the América club announced on Friday the hiring of English coach Harrington, who directed the American club Utah Royals, with which he achieved a draw, a victory and three defeats, and was also an auxiliary at the Chicago Reds Stars.
The coach arrives involved in the controversy after being accused of mistreating the players, according to the newspaper The Real Salt Lake Tribune. “Two sources with knowledge of the situation and who were not authorized to speak publicly, said that Harrington was suspended after the soccer players complained of verbal abuse,” published the newspaper.
Shortly after, the helmsman requested leave of absence from the team and was later removed after an internal investigation. The controversy began when then-Utah club officials Dell Loy Hansen and Andy Carroll were also singled out for making racist and sexist comments.
“He is not a coach who brings a great record, he may even be the best, but in the face of such accusations there is no excuse. At least the accusations against the technician should have been a red light ”, said Pedraza.
“We forget the dynamics of silencing within soccer clubs when a male figure is accused of aggression, just remember the cases of Renato Ibarra (América), Marco García (Pumas) and Ricardo La Volpe (Chivas). There are pacts of silence and it has also been normalized that abusive treatment harms you, but neither should teaching be like that. “
He stressed that America “seems to be taking steps backwards,” after last March it announced an agreement with the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women to hold awareness and gender perspective workshops.
“The decisions of the clubs are not necessarily made by the people involved in women’s soccer, there are heads that cannot be jumped, but the hiring of Harrington is unnecessary, America can bring someone with a better record,” he said.
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