Ex-Football Fern Rosie White backs current players after Jitka Klimkova misconduct claims

Former Football Fern Rosie White is backing the current players who raised concerns over allegations of inappropriate behaviour by outgoing coach Jitka Klimkova.

White, who played for New Zealand during the controversial Andreas Heraf era, told the Herald she was disappointed to learn of the allegations.

“It is super concerning,” White said. “Considering what the team has been through in the past, you’d expect the process to be a lot clearer and it sounds like with the players’ association and the players they have done everything in their power to say something, to speak out.”

On Tuesday, the Herald revealed allegations by current players that an off-field incident involving Klimkova in 2023 was the incident that resulted in a third-party employment investigation earlier this year.

New Zealand Football cleared the coach to return to work following the investigation.

Ten Football Ferns spoke with the Herald about the alleged incident, and it is understood that the majority of the current squad had written formal letters to NZF, expressing concerns about its handling of the matter.

Coach Jitka Klimkova in June 2023. Photo / Photosport

One player told the Herald: “NZF have created an environment where players are fearful of reporting issues. They need to take huge strides to improve their safeguarding, which at the moment feels non-existent.”

“This whole situation has been handled poorly, it feels as though there’s been little regard for player safety and wellbeing,” added another.

White made 111 appearances for New Zealand and is the side’s fifth-highest goal scorer with 24 goals. She played for four years in the United States National Women’s Soccer League and spent a season at Liverpool in England.

Speaking about the allegations, White said: “The timing of these things is so unfortunate as you are going into an Olympic Games and without a coach, it’s a pretty fundamental issue.”

The now 31-year-old had her own challenges as a player between 2017 and 2018 when head coach Heraf resigned after an investigation into the Ferns environment and culture and bullying allegations. The recent employment investigation was concluded exactly six years after the 2018 Muir Report into NZ Football.

The independent review undertaken by employment lawyer Pip Muir included interviews with around 80 people including 12 players who made complaints about the conduct and culture of NZF, as well as Heraf and former NZF chief executive Andy Martin.

Former Football Ferns' coach Andreas Heraf speaking with Rosie White and Katie Bowen in 2018. Photo / Photosport

Muir found the complaints raised by players were “genuine and largely substantiated” and that former Football Ferns coach and NZF technical director Andreas Heraf breached New Zealand Football’s Code of Conduct, Human Resources policy on harassment and Worksafe New Zealand bullying guidelines.

”The harassment was not sexual in any form and it wasn’t assault. But it was raised voices, it was yelling, it was intimidation, it was repeated,” Muir said.

”He offended and humiliated the players and a number of staff.”

White explained that advocating for fairness and player welfare can be a major distraction from on-field performance.

“Your job as a player is to buy into the coach’s strategy and for the players to be aligned on the field, you have to have one clear mission and one clear vision and that comes from leadership from the coach.

“When that is not clear or if people are not bought into that or if there’s been disruptions then it 100% affects your performance on the field.

“[In] my experiences with the Ferns, the culture of the team has always been what has stood out – what has made it an enjoyable experience.

“We always prided ourselves on punching above our weight, but when you don’t have the foundations right... then you can’t really do your job as a player.”

White disagreed with the notion that there is a power imbalance favouring players or that players are overly preoccupied with off-field issues

“All of the players that I have played with in the Ferns are absolutely willing to get their heads down and do the work and have committed their lives to football.

“But it’s not a space where we just be quiet and do our jobs anymore we have to demand better resources, better support because the future of the Football Ferns is important as well.

“That is part of, unfortunately, being a female athlete. There is a responsibility to make the future better and you see it at all levels.

“A lot of these players have been on the team for a long time, 10 years plus and I don’t know that they have in their careers, seen a whole lot of positive change with New Zealand Football. The rest of the world is making changes and we need to keep up.

Rosie White: 'There is a responsibility to make the future better and you see it at all levels.' Photo / Photosport

“The US Women’s National Team is doing the same thing – pushing for pay equity – and they have arguably the most resources out of any organisation.

“There’s this responsibility to create more opportunities and create a better future for the next generation of players and that unfortunately does fall on the shoulders of the players.”

White acknowledged that there is no quick fix for NZF’s problems, but provided advice from a player’s point of view

“New Zealand Football needs to be committed to leaders who are willing to support players, who are willing to listen and who are willing to go through the right processes to bring in coaches with positive track records.

“I honestly just think that New Zealand Football needs to do a better job of creating resources and supporting the players financially.

“There’s so many opportunities in women’s sports and in women’s football in particular right now globally and I just don’t know that we do the best job at maximising those opportunities.”

When asked for comment on White’s reflections, NZ Football referred the Herald to their initial statement regarding the Football Ferns’ claims earlier this week.

Full statement from the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association and New Zealand Football:

In April 2024, New Zealand Football received approval from a complainant to progress an investigation into an incident in the Football Ferns team environment.

A highly qualified independent workplace investigator was appointed who undertook a thorough and confidential workplace investigation, and made findings available to the parties in May.

The parties accepted the investigation findings and NZF took legal advice on its course of action to ensure it was appropriate, making sure to inform the relevant parties to the complaint of the outcome and actions. As is standard in workplace investigations, details of the investigation are not made public and findings are strictly confidential.

Following the outcome of the investigation, the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association, as the representative body of the players, and NZF, worked together to engage a restorative process to enable all parties to come together, however, owing to time constraints, this was unable to be completed before the Paris 2024 Olympics.

NZF and the NZPFA have worked collaboratively following the formal investigation and are now focused squarely on the future to ensure the team is in the best place to qualify for, and succeed at, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

We will not be making any further comment on this matter.

Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.