Mayra Ramirez's coach has sparked controversy for his comments about romantic relationships between players

The arrival of Mayra Ramirez at Chelsea for the second part of the 2023/24 season has made a team already dominant on the European women's football scene, and now even more so. It did not take the Colombian long to adapt to the Blues' attacking style and, thanks to her speed and physical display, she took charge of Emma Hayes' side.

Last week, the Cibati-born player was forced to miss the match against Manchester City in the FA Cup, requesting a substitution after 35 minutes due to discomfort in his adductor muscle. Although this led to her absence from the matches between Everton and Arsenal in the Women’s Super League, everything indicates that she will be in the squad that will play against Ajax in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next Tuesday, March 19. However, the London team is currently facing great controversy due to some of Emma Hayes' comments that put it in the eye of the storm.

Now you can follow us on our website WhatsApp channel And in Facebook.

The Chelsea coach was asked, in a press conference, about the investigation currently taking place in English football, due to rumors that Leicester City coach Willie Kirk was romantically linked to a player on the team whose identity was not known.

Because of this situation, the club launched an internal investigation and the strategist was suspended, so that he could not lead his players in the FA Cup quarter-final victory over Liverpool, 2-0.

When asked for her perspective on the topic, Hayes spoke out against this type of attitude on campus. “Romantic relationships between players are inappropriate. But we have to look at it in the context of where the game comes from and say 'look, we are now in the professional era' where the expectations from players and coaches are so high that all our focus and attention has to be on getting the highest demands. It can be difficult for a coach to manage relationships between players“, he expressed at the beginning.

Hayes, who will leave coaching Chelsea immediately after the season ends to coach the United States national team, noted that this type of relationship has been happening for a long time in women's soccer. “It may happen, for example, that one is a starter and the other is not, or that one is in the last year of her contract and the other is not. We all know, those of us who have worked in women’s football for a long period of time, that this “Things were happening in the locker rooms.”

In this sense, the coach warned that these types of situations must be viewed without leaving the specific context in which women's football has developed during most of its history, since amateurism. “Women's football, as we know it, has been an amateur sport for a long time, so, and I say this also in terms of relationships between players, there are situations that we have to face,” she said.

“Ideally you don't have to deal with that.. But we must keep in mind that we are talking about people. He concluded his intervention: “We must have guarantees and make sure that they are available to every club to protect the players.”

Hayes's statements sparked great controversy in the field of women's football, and even sparked negative reactions within its leadership. Jess Carter, the Blues defender who is currently in a romantic relationship with goalkeeper Anne-Katrin Berger, “liked” the post on X by English journalist Beth Fisher, who took particular issue with the coach’s words and expressed that she was “over it.” “Madness.”

However, in the press conference after Chelsea's 3-1 win over Arsenal, the coach stated that she had already had the opportunity to talk about the issue with Carter. “Of course I spoke to her. I don't want to create more clickbait headlines for you, sorry. Of course I'm disappointed by that… I spoke with Jess today and with other players on the team,” he said, without going into details about the said conversation.