Uefa has issued a lifetime ban to a Czech women's football coach who secretly filmed players in changing rooms and showers over a period of four years, in a case that has shaken the women's game across Europe.

Petr Vlachovsky, who spent almost 15 years coaching girls and women at top-tier Czech side 1. FC Slovacko, was arrested in September 2023 after police discovered covertly recorded footage online. He was subsequently convicted in the Czech Republic and handed a suspended one-year prison sentence alongside a five-year domestic coaching ban. He was also found in possession of child sexual abuse material.

Uefa's disciplinary body acts

Uefa's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) conducted its own investigation and determined that Vlachovsky had breached regulations governing insulting or indecent behaviour and bringing the game into disrepute. The CEDB has now banned him from exercising any football-related activity for life.

The body has also written to world governing body Fifa requesting the ban be applied globally, and has directed the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Vlachovsky's coaching licence entirely.

Before his time at Slovacko, Vlachovsky had coached the Czech Republic Under-19 women's national team and was at one point recognised as the best women's coach in the country. That context makes the scale of the betrayal all the more stark.

The human cost

Global players' union Fifpro has been central to keeping pressure on the relevant authorities. According to Fifpro, the footage was captured on a camera hidden inside a backpack, and the youngest player filmed was just 17 years old. Perhaps most disturbingly, the players at 1. FC Slovacko only discovered they had been filmed after Vlachovsky's arrest — meaning many had been unaware for years that their privacy had been violated in such an intimate setting.

Earlier this year, a group of the victims went public to demand further action. Speaking to Czech publication Seznam Zpravy, they described the lasting psychological damage: afraid to sleep at night, anxious in public spaces, constantly fearful of being watched. These are not abstract consequences — they are the lived reality for women who trusted a senior figure in their sport.

Why this matters beyond the Czech Republic

It would be easy to file this away as a story confined to one club or one national association, but that would be a mistake. The women's game at every level depends on the trust players place in coaches, backroom staff, and institutions. When that trust is abused this severely — and for this long — the damage ripples far beyond any one dressing room.

The fact that a lifetime ban required intervention from Uefa, and now a further request to Fifa, also raises questions about whether domestic sanctions alone are sufficient deterrent in cases of this nature. A five-year coaching ban that stays within one country's jurisdiction is not an adequate response to what Vlachovsky did.

The CEDB's decision to pursue a worldwide ban and to strip Vlachovsky of his licence is the right call, even if it has taken time to reach this point. What matters now is that the victims receive proper support, and that governing bodies at every level treat safeguarding in the women's game with the seriousness it demands — not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.

Frequently asked

What did Petr Vlachovsky do and why has he been banned for life?
Petr Vlachovsky secretly filmed 14 female footballers in changing rooms and showers over four years while coaching at Czech club 1. FC Slovacko. Uefa's disciplinary body found him in breach of regulations on indecent behaviour and bringing the game into disrepute, resulting in a lifetime ban from all football-related activity.
Does Vlachovsky's Uefa lifetime ban apply outside Europe?
Uefa has asked Fifa to extend the ban worldwide. If Fifa acts on that request, Vlachovsky would be prohibited from any football-related role in any country affiliated to the global governing body.
When were the players at 1. FC Slovacko told they had been filmed?
According to players' union Fifpro, the players only found out they had been secretly filmed after Vlachovsky's arrest in September 2023 — meaning many were unaware for years that the filming had taken place.