Victims of a coach who avoided prison despite secretly filming women footballers in changing rooms and showers have called for him to receive a global lifetime ban.
Petr Vlachovsky was given a suspended one-year prison sentence and five-year coaching ban in the Czech Republic after being convicted of filming 14 players over four years.
He coached girls and women at 1. FC Slovacko for almost 15 years, and previously led the Czech Republic Under-19s women’s team.
Once voted the best women’s coach in the Czech Republic, Vlachovsky was arrested in September 2023 after police discovered the covertly filmed footage online.
He was also found in possession of child sexual abuse material.
Leading players’ union Fifpro reported that players of 1. FC Slovacko only learned they had been secretly filmed after the arrest. He was given a one-year suspended prison sentence in May last year, and recently a group of the victims came forward to demand further action.
Fifpro – the global representative organisation for professional footballers – said the players were filmed on Vlachovsky’s camera hidden in a backpack, and the youngest was aged 17.
“Because the Czech criminal process and the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FACR) administrative proceedings are separate and can run in parallel, the union is challenging the FA to implement a lifetime football ban for Vlachovsky and all sexual offenders,” Fifpro said.
“Fifpro is exploring possible legal avenues on behalf of players to achieve a global ban.
“The victims did not have the opportunity to attend a public trial and could not file an appeal against what players view as extremely lenient sentencing.”
Players spoke to Czech media publication Seznam Zpravy, external after Vlachovsky’s sentencing, saying it had left them afraid to sleep at night and anxious about being in public in case they were being filmed.
FACR chairman David Trunda told Seznam Zpravy that the association had not historically addressed these issues and wanted to “turn the tide” and pay more attention to the safety of children and players.
It follows a similar recent case in Austria, where a former official at SC Rheindorf Altach, external received a suspended sentence and was fined 1,200 euros (£1,046) for secretly filming members of the club’s women’s team in the changing room, gym and showers. He was ordered to pay each victim 625 euros (£544) in compensation.