Team-mate relationships in women's football 'challenging but not inappropriate' - Asante - BBC Sport
Former footballer Anita Asante says relationships between team-mates can be "challenging but they are not inappropriate."
Last updated on .From the section Women's Football

Relationships between team-mates can be "challenging but not inappropriate," says ex-England defender Anita Asante.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said on Thursday that player-coach relationships and player-to-player relationships are inappropriate.

Hayes also said relationships between team-mates can be hard for a coach to navigate.

"I just don't think it [player-to-player relationships] has any relevance to this issue at hand," Asante said.

Leicester City boss Willie Kirk is being investigated by the club following an allegation of a player-coach relationship.

It is understood a complaint has been lodged with the club about an alleged current relationship between Kirk and a player. BBC Sport has approached Kirk for comment regarding the allegation.

Hayes said on Thursday that "player-coach relationships are inappropriate, player-to-player relationships are inappropriate".

"We have to look it at in the context of where the game has come from," Hayes said.

"We're in a professional era now where the expectation in place for players and coaches is such that all of our focus and attention has got to be on having the top standards."

Asante, 38, played at the top of the women's game for 19 years before announcing her retirement at the end of the 2021-22 season.

"I can imagine in terms of the context she [Hayes] is saying, yes those relationships can be challenging but they are not inappropriate, they are just challenging," Asante, who is a coach with England women's Under-23 team, told BBC 5 Live.

"But of course that's a conversation probably to be had at some point because of course it can be challenging."

Everton boss Brian Sorensen said he had never experienced a problem with player-to-player relationships.

"I can understand why it could become a problem because as I said before, the game has become so much more professional," he said.

"I don't think it's in the same ball park as the other [player-coach relationships]."

Liverpool manager Matt Beard added: "I personally don't see it [player-to-player relationships] being a problem.

"I think one in five people meet their long-term partner in work environments. I think the key thing is, if there is a relationship, that it doesn't affect your day-to-day job. I've got no issues with it."

There are several high-profile players in relationships in the Women's Super League (WSL).

Chelsea duo Jess Carter and Ann-Katrin Berger are a couple, as are Arsenal's Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead.

Chelsea striker and Matildas captain Sam Kerr is engaged to West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis while Tottenham players Amy Turner and Angharad James became the WSL's first married couple in June 2023.

On her return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Mead spoke about how the support of team-mate and partner Miedema, who suffered the same injury a month later, was vital.

"We're competitive people, we always have been and throughout the process we pushed each other and we've helped each other in different moments," said Mead.

"I think it has pushed us in getting back quicker than we possibly could have or we could have slacked off in certain instances so when you've got that competition between each other, it's always been good but it's not been without its arguments and its ups and downs."
• None Where and how to watch the WSL this weekend

Former England and Great Britain hockey captain and Olympic gold and bronze medallist Kate Richardson-Walsh posted on social media about relationships between players and staff.

Walsh began a relationship with international team-mate Helen Richardson in 2008. They married in 2013 and both changed their last names afterwards.

The pair won Great Britain's first women's hockey gold medal at an Olympics at the Rio Games in 2016.

"Definitely not 'inappropriate' and certainly not being 'phased out'," Richardson-Walsh wrote of player-to-player relationships.

"And, for the record, relationships between staff and players are inappropriate. They are an abuse of power."