Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes has admitted she made a mistake when she said that teammates dating was “inappropriate.”
The incoming U.S. women’s national team coach was asked Thursday about Leicester City Women manager Willie Kirk, who is currently suspended amid an investigation into a reported relationship with one of his players.
Hayes responded by saying that not only is coaches dating players wrong, but also teammates dating one another.
“We have to have safeguarding, make sure that’s it’s accessible for each and every club to protect players,” Hayes said. “Player-coach relationships, they’re inappropriate, player-to-player relationships are inappropriate.”
Expanding on her reasoning, Hayes added: “One player’s in the team, one’s not in the team, one might be in the last year of their contract, one might not be. We all know, those of us that have been in the women’s game for a long period of time, those things have been happening in dressing rooms. Longer term, it would be ideal … where you don’t have to deal with that.”
After her side’s 3-1 win over Arsenal in the WSL on Friday, Hayes admitted she had made a mistake with her comments.
“I want to be clear to everybody in the room, I don’t want to create any more clickbait headlines for you guys. I think sometimes that becomes the case when we have honest conversations about things,” Hayes said at a press conference.
Chelsea defender Jess Carter is currently in a relationship with her teammate Ann-Katrin Berger, and liked a post on X saying that the comments from Hayes were “beyond bonkers.”
Amid a potentially awkward situation in her locker room, Hayes said she had spoken with Carter in the aftermath of her comments.
“Of course, I’m disappointed about that, of course Jess and I have had a conversation today as I have with other players in the team,” Hayes said.
“They know exactly who I am and what my intentions were. But I have to expect that — I’m supposed to be the most well-trained, non-clickbait coach and I let myself down yesterday. I didn’t think it was right for me to use the term ‘inappropriate’ for the players.
“I don’t take those things back, but I have zero criticism for any player in my dressing room for anything — their professionalism regardless of their status, regardless of who they are in a relationship. I’ve been unbelievably supportive of all of the players, I’ve been a champion for equality and equity.”
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