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Helena Costa resigns: First female coach of professional men's team quits – on her first day in the job Helena Costa resigns: First female coach of professional men's team quits – on her first day in the job
(about 1 hour later)
The first woman to manage a professional football club but who quit on her first day in the job had a sudden change of heart 'because she's a woman', the club's president has said. Helena Costa was supposed to blaze a new trail for women in male professional sport. She backed away today under a barrage of misogynist gibes, including several by the French football club chairman who had hired her.
Helena Costa, 37, whose appointment last month made headlines around the world and was widely seen as a breakthrough for women in the sport, told a press conference at Clermont Ferrand in central France that her decision was “purely personal”. Ms Costa, 37, last month became the manager of Clermont Foot 63 in the French second division – the first woman ever appointed to manage a men’s professional club at such a high level. But the Portuguese coach confirmed that she was resigning her post without ever meeting her players. Ms Costa, the former manager of the Iranian and Qatari women’s teams, said her reasons for leaving were “purely personal”.
She then walked our without any further explanation. She said: “Only the president of the club knows the reason for my decision. I hope that this will not damage the chances of other women.”
The Portuguese coach, who has worked with women footballers all over the world, had not even been introduced to the squad at the French second division club, Clermont Foot 63. However, Clermont Foot 63’s president, Claude Michy, said that he had been given “no rational explanation” for Ms Costa’s abrupt departure. “She’s a woman,” he said. “They are capable of leading us to believe in certain things and then…She simply said  ‘I’m going.’”
The club’s president, Claude Michy, said he had no idea why Ms Costa had changed her mind. He added: “Was she scared? I don’t know. We couldn’t make her change her mind. She leaves with her secret intact. I am not the first man to be deserted by a woman.”
“She’s a woman,” he said. “They are capable of leading us to believe in certain things and then…She simply said ‘I’m going’.” Ms Costa’s decision also generated an avalanche of misogynist commentary online. Her appointment last month made headlines around the world. Clermont Foot 63’s decision was variously greeted at the time as a leap forward for the women’s game and a publicity stunt.
“We couldn’t make her change her mind. She leaves with her secret intact.” Sonia Saouid, a local beauty queen turned football agent who helped to recruit Ms Costa, criticised the decision.
“It appears that she suddenly had a crisis of confidence but I have no idea what might have upset her.” “I don’t recognise the Helena Costa we saw at a press conference last month,” she said. “I am sad and angry for all the women who would like to have been in her place. I am angry because she has made a selfish decision.”
Ms Costa’s appointment last month made headlines around the globe. Clermont 63’s decision to become the first in the world to appoint a woman to manage male professional players was variously greeted as a leap forward for the women’s game and a publicity stunt. Helena Costa and Clermont Foot's football team president Claude Michy
Sonia Saouid, the beauty queen turned football agent who helped recruit Ms Costa, said that she was “sad and angry” – especially for other would-be female coaches of male clubs. She accused her former protégé of making a “selfish decision”. At the press conference to confirm her appointment on 22 May, Ms Costa said: “The impact of my appointment was huge, but I want people to look at me like a normal person and to judge my work as if I were a man. It is a pleasure to take this position but like men, if I do not have results, I will be fired like any other coach.”
“I don’t recognise the Helena Costa who turned up for press conference last month,” she said. “We were just confronted with a wall. Her mind was made up. I am sad and angry for all the women who would like to have been in her place. I am angry because she has made a selfish decision.” Officials at the club were at a loss to explain her abrupt departure. Reports suggested that she had clashed with the club’s technical adviser. Sources in the club said there had been an exchange of words but nothing dramatic enough to explain her departure.
Helena Costa and Clermont Foot's football team president Claude Michy Mr Michy said that he had already had 45 calls from other would-be managers of Clermont 63 since the news leaked late last night. None of them were women, he said. Mr Michy has been struggling for years to bring publicity and success to a club which has been overshadowed by the rise of Clermont-Auvergne, the city’s rugby team. He said that he had already had 45 applications for the manager’s job “but none from a woman”.
At a press conference to confirm her appointment on 22 May, Ms Costa said: “The impact of my appointment was huge, but I want people looking at me like a normal person and judge my work as if I were a man.”
“It is a pleasure to take this position but, like men, if I do not have results, I will be fired like any other coach. This is normal.”
Ms Costa’s decision to leave before her first season began provoked a storm of comments on French social media today. One Clermont fan said that she would go down as the perennially struggling club’s finest ever manger. “She is the only one never to have lost a match,” he said.Ms Costa’s decision to leave before her first season began provoked a storm of comments on French social media today. One Clermont fan said that she would go down as the perennially struggling club’s finest ever manger. “She is the only one never to have lost a match,” he said.