Athletes only found out about the existence of the recordings when they were called to give a statement to the police
The former player of the Czech Republic’s women’s first division club Slovacko, Kristyna Janku, revealed details of the case involving coach Petr Vlachovsky, who He secretly filmed athletes in the shower for four years. In an interview with the Czech newspaper Seznam Zpravy, the athlete spoke about the impact of the discovery and called for tougher measures to avoid new similar episodes in the sport.
According to Kristyna, she and other companions only found out about the existence of the recordings when they were called to give a statement at a police station. The athletes needed to watch the videos to confirm their identities. “We didn’t see the camera he was using. We had to see the recordings to identify ourselves. I was in shock. You can’t believe this is really happening,” he said.
According to the report, the The coach even shared the content with another man over the internet. Kristyna said she received a warning from a police officer during the investigation. “The police officer warned me: ‘You are the person most talked about in these conversations.’ They were really disgusting things,” he said.
The athlete worked for Slovacko for more than ten years and stated that she never suspected the coach’s behavior during the period they worked together. “We were like a big family. The entire time, it was as if he were someone else. He had a second personality,” he declared.
Petr Vlachovsky was convicted of the crime and possession of child sexual abuse materialbut, despite the seriousness of the case, his prison sentence was suspended and he was banned from working as a coach in the Czech Republic for just five years. A ddecision sparked criticism from the Czech Football Players Association, which defends a permanent and internationally valid punishment.
Marketa Vochoska Haindlova, representative of the entity, stated that There is concern about the possibility of the technician continuing to work in other countries: “It shouldn’t be possible, as in this case, for the coach to simply move from one continent to another and do whatever he wants,” he said.
Kristyna said she decided to make the case public to try to protect other athletes and expand the discussion on safety in the sporting environment.
“Paradoxically, this is helping me, turning the negative into positive, when I see that we can try to bring some change. I don’t want any other girl or woman in football, or in any other sport, to be harmed in this way”, concluded the player.
