Not just for retired players or current players, but also for future players too.” And we want to promote that as well from a safe environment. “So we obviously support her in everything that she wants to come forward with and we are happy that she’s finally felt that she can come forward. “But in saying that, everyone has a different experience and no two experiences are the same. “To me, the allegations were surprising, given that I have been in the environment for a long time,” Yallop told AAP. Midfielder Tameka Yallop came the closest on Thursday. Since their joint statement last week, which both welcomed an independent review but also defended the team’s “strong professional, inclusive and supportive culture”, the players have been effectively silent on the matter.

The subtext of everything Johnson has been saying is what the Matildas themselves have not been saying. “The specific allegations that were made – that behaviour, those allegations – if they’re proven, are not OK and we will through this process call out this kind of behaviour. “The conduct that former players have talked about will be addressed through an independent channel, not by Football Australia, by Sports Integrity Australia,” he said. Johnson said the framework for the Sport Integrity Australia investigation was set to be announced imminently. “But you’re talking about a great group of professionals playing in some of the biggest clubs in the world, and the scrutiny on these players right now is very high and they’re handling it very well.” “Of course it has taken a toll,” he said. The reputational stain has stuck, and the independent investigation hoping to wash it out looms large just as the players’ minds are attempting to remain focused on their first match since the Tokyo Olympics and the first on home soil in almost two years.įootball Australia chief executive James Johnson, who reportedly met with the squad on Wednesday, acknowledged the situation had been a distraction. The intense public scrutiny since Lisa De Vanna’s claims earlier this month that she was sexually harassed and bullied throughout the course of her international career has swallowed the current crop of Matildas, driven a wedge through relations between De Vanna and the striker’s former teammates, and prompted online abuse directed towards all parties unsavoury enough for the players’ union and police to step in.

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