
RT Investigates and the Sunday Independent announce major new joint investigation
into Women's Soccer in Ireland to be revealed this Sunday
- Garda investigation underway following allegations against FAI coaches
- Two year joint investigation by journalists Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe
Watch RT Investigates: Girls in Green this Sunday night at 9.30pm
on RT One & RT Player
Read the full story in the Sunday Independent this weekend
This coming Sunday, 7th July, RT Investigates and the Sunday Independent will reveal the details of a joint investigation spanning two years, into widespread allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by women against Irish male soccer coaches.
The groundbreaking investigation covered in a feature length TV documentary and extensive written articles this Sunday, has in the last number of weeks led to Garda opening an investigation into a former senior football coach following allegations from female footballers that he made unwanted sexual advances on players. A separate complaint has also been made about a second senior coach.
Over two years in the making, the highly anticipated joint investigation features candid testimony from multiple former female players, former coaches and officials. Some of those who spoke to the RT Investigates / Sunday Independent joint investigation have never told anyone about their experiences until now.
Many of those who experienced unwanted sexual advances were shocked to discover that former teammates had shared similar experiences. I thought I was the only one, a significant number of former players have told RT Investigates and the Sunday Independent.
In one case a player said she was never selected again after she fled from her manager's hotel room after he attempted to kiss her. Another player outlined how she believed she was exiled by a coach from their team after she said she saw him behaving inappropriately with players.
In a change to scheduled programmes, RT Investigates: Girls in Green will be broadcast this Sunday night in peak time on RT One at 9.30pm, and available to stream worldwide on the RT Player. Extensive feature articles detailing the investigation will be published this weekend in the Sunday Independent, independent.ie and RTE.ie
Women's soccer seems to keep making headlines for all the wrong reasons. World Cup winners Spain had their finest hour mired in controversy, American soccer was turned upside down when a top coach was banned for life, and this year Brazil's former head coach resigned after players complained against sexual harassment.
Ex-Irish Internationals told the RT Investigates / Sunday Independent joint investigation they weren't surprised by revelations of misogyny and abuse abroad. They hinted at the same thing happening at home but had little faith that well-hidden secrets would ever see the light of day.
Journalist Mark Tighe of the Sunday Independent has written extensively about the FAI. RT Sport presenter and reporter Marie Crowe has spent 15 years in sports journalism including covering the Women's national soccer team. Both journalists were independently working on the same story in 2022 and then came together to research it in greater detail. They have spoken to a significant number of former female players for this investigation.
Made by the award-winning RT Investigations Unit, RT Investigates: Girls in Green sees RT Sport journalist Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe of the Sunday Independent join with RT Investigates Producer/Director Frank Shouldice to reveal the backroom story of women's soccer in Ireland.
RT Investigates and the Sunday Independent joint investigation looks at whether the absence of proper safeguards actually promoted an unhealthy dynamic between coaches and players and examines what measures the FAI took to ensure a secure environment for talented young girls who wanted to play soccer.
The FAI recently announced it was introducing a new anonymous reporting mechanism to allow players and others to flag concerns and report inappropriate behaviour to Raiseaconcern, an independent complaint handling firm. The Play It Right campaign which is to be rolled out to clubs across the country to promote good behaviour and promote a confidential independent helpline and website for anyone who wants to report a serious concern anonymously.
Four days before the announcement, reporters from RT Investigates and the Sunday Independent contacted the FAI seeking an official response to concerns raised by the women about their treatment by coaches in the 1990s.
An FAI spokesperson said: the Association was shocked and appalled to learn of disturbing allegations of abuse brought forward by women involved in Irish football in the 1990's .
The FAI acknowledges the enormous courage of the women in coming forward and making their concerns known and would encourage anyone involved in Irish football to report any concern that may arise.
Watch: RT Investigates: Girls in Green, Sunday 9.30pm on RT One and RT Player
Read: Sunday Independent and Irish Independent online from 6.00am Sunday morning
Note to Editor:
The FAI said that anyone that has experienced any form of abuse or harm within Irish football, can contact independent and confidential service it has set up with Raiseaconcern on 01 6107929 or 086 0299929, or email football@raiseaconcern.com.
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...