Feb 18th, 2019

Feb 18th, 2019

Three people described as Matildas “insiders” have alleged that the term “lesbian mafia” was used frequently by sacked coach Alen Stajcic.

The claims were aired on Sunday by ABC Radio’s The Ticket, presented by Tracey Holmes. Wide World of Sports does not suggest that the claims are true and a spokesman for Stajcic branded them "deeply disappointing".

Stajcic last week fronted the media for the first time since his sacking by Football Federation Australia and denied ever saying “lesbian mafia”; a name allegedly given to hostile forces within Australian football who wanted him gone.

“It’s not a word in my vocabulary,” said Stajcic, who was won significant public sympathy after being dismissed.

Yet the three “insiders”, who spoke to Holmes anonymously and had their words read out by actors, said that the term became commonplace in an alleged “toxic” culture within Stajcic’s team.

“The term ‘lesbian mafia’ refers to a past coach and a close acquaintance of the past coach,” the third insider, a male, told the ABC.

“Whether there’s an element of paranoia on his [Stajcic’s] behalf, or bitterness stemming from the fact he didn’t get the job sooner, I don’t know. But unfortunately, that term is used openly.

“Unfortunately, the biggest downfall from that is that the players are hearing it and it gives them a bad image of women in the football fraternity. The inference is that these people are bad people, when they are not necessarily bad people.”

The first insider, another male, alleged that Stajcic used the “lesbian mafia” term openly and it contributed to an unhealthy environment.

“It happened openly, in public, in front of players, in front of staff where – not trying to be disrespectful – but the use of this term “lesbian mafia” was used; casually used in conversation and openly in conversation within the team,” the first insider said.

“And he expressed some heavy views and thoughts of those he believed were associated to this group … which he believed had a vendetta against him, which is totally incorrect. I strongly believe the people he referenced in this group of women really want what’s best for the Matildas, and they want the Matildas to be a high-performance environment, which clearly over the course of the last three or four years was not the case.

“He was referring to previous board members and current members who have recently stepped down for personal health issues. He was referring directly to other national team coaches and he also made that ‘lesbian mafia’ remark about a number of FFA staff who … he believed were working against him, which is clearly not the case.

“These conversations would come up just in general. You’d be in the meal room and you’d hear it, you’d be around the team hotel and you’d hear it in the conversation amongst particularly coaching staff. You’d be on the team bus and you could actually hear Staj from halfway down the back of the bus, reading out text messages that members of that ‘mafia’ group had actually sent him, and he’s in a debate with her.

“It’s not healthy. It doesn’t help the environment either, and it’s just a contributing factor to that environment and culture that he’s allowed to grow under his control.”

Alen Stajcic frequently used the term "lesbian mafia" to describe enemies, Matildas "insiders" have alleged. (AAP )

The second insider, a female, also alleged that Stajcic had used the term frequently.

“There’s some certain things that Staj referred to, where he said that the words ‘lesbian mafia’ were not in his vocabulary. There’s an awful lot of people in and around the Matildas environment who know that is simply not correct and not factual,” the insider said.

“It’s certainly a term that Staj used very, very loosely at times in terms of, it was just general vocabulary amongst the group; that it became like common language.”

The “lesbian mafia” claims came amid allegations from the “insiders” that Stajcic created an environment of fear in which double standards existed for certain players.

“The camp environment within the Matildas is one where there’s a lot of uncertainty, there’s a lot of awkwardness, there’s a lot of fear,” said the second insider, a female.

“There’s a lot of players not feeling that they can actually be themselves and perform at their best, because they’re constantly on edge around the coaching staff; mainly the head coach and his assistant coaches.”

The first insider, a male, claimed that more than half of the Matildas players had been adversely impacted by Stajcic’s coaching style, despite 18 players – including superstar Sam Kerr – having publicly voiced support for the coach since he was sacked. The insider alleged that complaints had been made to team management and FFA figures, but not directly to Stajcic.

“I never confronted Staj because again, there was just this fear factor and he was just so controlling over the Matildas, there was just never, ever any breathing space to move,” the insider claimed.

“He was just constantly pretty much in your face. Just the fear of speaking out, and that would be held against you.”

Alen Stajcic has strongly refuted claims of any wrongdoing as Matildas coach. (AAP )

The second insider, a female, said that players had felt pressured to support Stajcic publicly. The insider claimed that double standards had flourished under Stajcic.

“There would certainly be a number of players who feel like that; a number in the team that feel there’s one rule for one set of players and then there’s a couple of other players who don’t sort of abide by the rest-of-the-team rules, or the rest of the rules set out by the coach and his staff,” the insider said.

“Certainly that causes a massive split within the team and the team culture, and that has been building over probably the last 18 months in particular, where that pressure and I suppose the expectation that everyone’s not on the same page, everyone’s not treated the same; it’s really caused a lot of division and a lot of divide within the Matildas playing group.

“Certainly there are a number of players who felt almost relief when this decision came about [to sack Stajcic]. And a lot of the players actually felt very much pressured by a couple of leading players, [who] went to social media very early to rally in support of Staj, and they felt a bit of the pressure from some of those players that they felt they didn’t want to be the ones to not support Staj. Because if he’s trawling through their messages, the messages of support, and their name doesn’t appear, then the spotlight would shine on them, as well as maybe, ‘They’re the ones that have provided negative feedback through discussions with the FFA’.”

Alen Stajcic is still in the dark as to why he was sacked by FFA. (AAP )

The first insider, a male, said that the team had been upbeat upon Stajcic’s appointment as Matildas coach before the 2014 Asian Cup.

“And then, just slowly, slowly over time, we witnessed this deterioration amongst the group,” the insider claimed.

“The disharmony that was created purely by the inconsistent behaviour, the inconsistent rulings, the inconsistent approach to how things were handled or what was said and done really affected the team environment. The word toxic has been used heavily in the public, and that’s probably the best way to describe it. But that’s by no means as a result of the players. It’s because it’s actually been allowed by Staj.

“It was just an accumulation. He just allowed the culture and the environment of the Matildas to become toxic. There was just no control, no leadership, no proper guidance.”

Alen Stajcic fostered a "toxic" Matildas culture, "insiders" claim. (AAP )

A spokesman for Stajcic responded to the new allegations via The Australian on Sunday night, saying that it was “deeply disappointing that certain persons want to continue to damage Alen’s reputation and hurt his family”.

“Alen has been very open and honest, opened himself up to scrutiny by all and called for clarity, transparency and a just resolution,” a statement said.

“Alen at this stage has nothing to add in the public discourse and hopes this matter comes to a head soon in the best interests of all parties, but particularly our wonderful game and especially women’s football at such an important moment for the Matildas.”

Stajcic maintains that he has been given no clarity around the reasons for his dismissal, other than the vague charge of fostering a “poor culture”.

The Matildas are ranked No.6 in the world by FIFA heading into this year’s World Cup in France. Former Socceroos assistant Ante Milicic has been named interim coach.