European football’s governing body, UEFA, has officially banned former Czech women’s head coach Petr Vlachovsky from all football-related activities for life. The decisive ruling comes after an intensive investigation into shocking revelations that Vlachovsky had spent years covertly filming his players inside locker rooms and showers.

In an official statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) confirmed it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate the misconduct.

To ensure the disgraced coach cannot return to the sport anywhere else, the governing body took further steps. “The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr. Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.

Vlachovsky was a highly prominent figure in Czech women’s football, having coached top-tier club 1. FC Slovacko for nearly 15 years and previously leading the Czech Republic Under-19 women’s national team. At one point in his career, he was even voted the best women’s coach in the country.

Namun, his career completely unraveled when police arrested him following the discovery of covertly filmed footage uploaded online. Authorities subsequently discovered that Vlachovsky had used a camera hidden inside a backpack to spy on his squad. Over a devastating four-year period, he secretly recorded 14 different players, the youngest of whom was just 17 years old. Investigators also found him in possession of child sexual abuse material.

Domestic legal proceedings concluded last year, where a Czech court handed Vlachovsky a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban. However, that initial sentence sparked widespread outrage and calls for much stricter penalties from the victims and global sports advocates, eventually triggering the UEFA-led investigation.

Menurut global professional football players’ union, FIFPRO, the players at 1. FC Slovacko only discovered they had been systematically violated after Vlachovsky’s arrest. The psychological fallout from the betrayal has been immense. A group of the victims came forward to Czech media, revealing that Vlachovsky’s crimes had left them traumatized, suffering from severe anxiety in public spaces, and terrified to sleep at night out of fear that they were still being watched.

FIFPRO vehemently welcomed UEFA’s lifelong expulsion and the push for a worldwide FIFA ban, expressing hope that the ruling would offer some semblance of justice to the affected athletes.

“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the wellbeing of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO emphasized in a statement.