The Santos women’s coach, Clayton Lima, His resignation came in the face of growing pressure over complaints of sexual and moral harassment from some players, the Brazilian club reported on Monday.
“Since his hiring, the coach has suffered criticism and, in recent days, even death threats due to accusations made last year,” the São Paulo club explained in a statement.
The Saints He noted that he accepted Lima’s resignation because it was a “personal decision” and reinforced his “confidence” that the matter will be closed “definitively.”
The coach left the bench of ‘Sirenas de la Vila’, one of the most powerful Brazilian teams in women’s football, in September 2023 after twenty letters appeared from players reporting episodes of sexual and moral harassment.
Writing anonymously, the soccer players denounced “tasteless jokes”, “public humiliation”, “verbal attacks”, disparaging comments about their bodies, “bullying” and even “inappropriate touching” by their coach.
Santos opened an internal investigation with the support of the Police and, in the end, deemed the testimonies of its footballers fragile.
Seven months later, he announced the return of Lima, who at the press conference for his presentation, on the 9th, called the accusations against him “lies.”
However, last Friday the Brazilian press published a new story from a player who claimed that the coach “rubbed” against him, more specifically on his shoulder.
Added to this were the protests of other players showing solidarity with their fellow Saints.
Last Friday, in the Brazilian Championship match between Santos and Corinthians, footballers of the latter team covered their mouths with one hand in protest while the national anthem was played over the public address system.
For all these reasons, Lima argued that his resignation was “the best choice to preserve his family, his integrity and Santos himself,” despite being “convinced that he did not commit” any crime.
Santos reported that Wesly Otoni will temporarily take over as coach.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
