Thirteen players have refused to play under coach Andres Heraf's leadership
Football Ferns coach Andreas Heraf has been suspended — but it remains to be seen if he will be the only casualty of the ongoing Ferns scandal.
After a tumultuous few days, where a player rebellion on a large scale has rocked the sport, New Zealand Football fronted today.
It was an extraordinary press conference.
NZF CEO Andy Martin confirmed that 13 Ferns players have said they won't play under Heraf, after the Herald revealed the multiple letters of complaint sent via the NZPFA on Tuesday.
That fact alone would appear to make Heraf's position untenable, given he is facing allegations of bullying, intimidation and creating a culture of fear.
Heraf is under investigation, and has been put on special leave, as part of an independent review.
"There is a process of natural justice for all parties involved, including the coach," said NZF president Deryck Shaw who fronted the press conference alongside Martin.
Once Heraf's exit is confirmed, and that would appear to be a fait accompli, the focus will shift to the position and conduct of Martin.
Shaw backed Martin today — "Andy retains the confidence of the board. We have a review process, and we need to look at the outcomes that come from that."
Martin, who six days ago endorsed Heraf, saying there were no issues with the players and the Austrian coach, said he was stunned to receive the letters from the players.
"This was a shock," said Martin. "There is always speculation and opinion, but we have to deal with fact. When we spoke last week we knew we had a good system. This was the first formal confirmation that there were issues."
Martin maintained, not entirely convincingly, that he had not been aware of any unrest, problems or difficulties in the Ferns' camp before last weekend, though that stance is hard to believe.
Football Ferns coach Andreas Heraf. Photo / Getty
As reported by the Herald, former Ferns manager Claire Hamilton outlined her concerns about the team culture and environment after the tour to Spain in March, both in writing and during her exit interview, but Martin said that was simply about change management.
"There was concern about job clarity, job roles, changes, all those kind of things, but no mention of the need for a review," said Martin. "There was a mention in the exit interview, about being uncomfortable with the culture that was happening on tour, but that was wrapped up in a performance management issue around that individual. There was no sign that this was coming. There is nothing that we would hide."
Martin also said there had been nothing of concern indicated in the official tour report.
Unfortunately, in a Monty Python-type scenario, that report was compiled by Heraf, in his other role as NZF's technical director.
But Martin denied that pointed to a conflict of interest, telling a reporter "That's your interpretation."
Martin also strenously defended both his actions over the last few months, and his decision to appoint Heraf, both as technical director then as Ferns coach.
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I believe my judgement over that period of time was right," said Martin. "At face value [Andreas] is highly qualified and has a good track record. Anyone coming in to make those kind of changes, there is going to be reaction. We were looking at people that were uncomfortable with change. We are looking for change, but we have to determine whether that change was too rapid, too agreessive, too quick...whatever has caused that this reaction."
Martin also deflected questions about his future.
"It's an obvious question, said Martin. "But this is an isolated incident over a four year period where we have performed very well."
