The head of the Football Association (FA) has said he would “100 percent” reject any approach for England women’s national team head coach Sarina Wiegman, amid expected interest from U.S. Soccer.
Wiegman has helped England to Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain, further burnishing her reputation as one of the world’s elite coaches.
The Dutch manager has won the last two European Championships (with the Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022) and has now reached two World Cup finals in a row, having fallen to the USWNT in 2019 while coaching the Netherlands.
With Vlatko Andonovski resigning as USWNT head coach, Wiegman has been mentioned as an ideal replacement, both for her international success as well as her ties to the United States, having played under Anson Dorrance at the University of North Carolina.
But speaking to the media on Thursday, FA CEO Mark Bullingham made it clear that he would not accept any inquiries over Weigman.
“We’ve seen lots of rumors, and look, she is a special talent,” Bullingham said. “We know that. From our side, she’s obviously contracted through until 2025. We think she’s doing a great job.
“We’re obviously huge supporters of her and I think hopefully she feels the same way. So from our side, she’s someone we’d like to have with us for a very long time.”
Asked if the FA would reject any approach for Wiegman, Bullingham said, “Yup, 100 percent.”
Bullingham even said that Wiegman could be considered to take over the England men’s national team whenever Gareth Southgate’s time in charge comes to an end.
“People always say it is the best man for the job or the best Englishman,” Bullingham said. “Why does it have to be a man?
“I think our answer is always, ‘It’s the best person for the job.’ We think Sarina is doing a great job and hope she continues doing it for a long time. I think Sarina could do anything she wants in football.
“If at some point in the future she decides she wants to move into the men’s game, that would be a really interesting discussion, but that’s for her, right?
“I don’t think we should view it as a step up. If she decides at some point in the future to go in a different direction, I think she’s perfectly capable of that.”
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