Sport
the times | Saturday August 15 2020 1GS 11
Sarina Wiegman has agreed to succeed
Phil Neville as the manager of the
England women’s senior side but the
Football Association has yet to make a
decision on who will lead Team GB at
next summer’s Olympic Games.
The Times revealed this week that
Wiegman, who is in charge of the
Dutch side that lost last year’s World
Cup final to the US, had emerged as the
favourite to replace Neville next year,
despite insisting on first taking Holland
to the rescheduled Olympics in Tokyo.
However, in confirming Wiegman’s
appointment yesterday, the FA’s
director of women’s football, Baroness
Sue Campbell, would only say that a
decision on who will manage the
British team in Tokyo would be
announced “in due course”.
Neville’s contract runs until July 2021
but expires before the Games, which
are due to take place between July 23
and August 8. Nevertheless, the former
England defender has intimated in the
past that he would be prepared to
extend his tenure for a few weeks to
take charge at the Olympics if his
services are required.
Campbell is now in a position where
she does need someone and discussions
on the matter are due to take place in
the next week or so. Neville is the
obvious solution, given that a British
team would be dominated by English
players.
But a complication could arise if
Neville lands a new job at a club, which
by the end of July next year would be
back for pre-season training, or even
with another country. It is understood
that Australia are interested in Neville
taking charge of their women’s team
who won the past two World Cups
with the Americans, was not down to
money despite sources suggesting that
Wiegman’s salary requirements were
significantly lower. It is understood
Wiegman will be paid about £400,
a year at the FA.
“Sarina was our No 1 choice,”
Campbell said. “She is the perfect
cultural fit for us, which is crucially
important in building a winning team.
Her technical expertise, leadership
skills and winning mentality are hugely
impressive.”
Wiegman said: “England is the cradle
of football and the major developments
in women’s football globally over recent
years have been led by the FA. I’m very
much looking forward to contributing
my experience and expertise to this
ambitious team.”Lionesses get
‘No 1 choice’ to
replace Neville
before co-hosting the 2023 World
Cup.
Securing the services of Wiegman
nevertheless represents a significant
coup for the FA.
It was only last December that the
50-year-old signed a new contract with
the Dutch FA, which has honoured her
in its statue garden after her success in
winning the 2017 European Champion-
ship and reaching last year’s World Cup
final with a team widely praised for
their attacking style.
Campbell insisted that the former
Holland international was always the
FA’s first choice and Wembley insiders
claim her selection instead of Jill Ellis,Matt Lawton
Chief Sports Correspondent
How The Times first reported the storyifiRuthless former
PE teacher who
doesn’t settle
for second bestWhen Sarina Wiegman was
six years old, she knew that
playing football as a girl on
the streets of the Hague in
the Netherlands would
bring her trouble (Molly
Hudson writes). Hersolution was to ask for her
hair to be cut short, so that
she could play alongside
her twin brother.
It was the first of many
bold decisions that have led
to the 50-year-old being
appointed as England
manager on a four-year
deal, succeeding Phil Neville
at the end of his contract in
July 2021. Wiegman will
remain in charge of theDutch team until September
2021, including at the Tokyo
Olympics. The FA is yet to
decide who will manage
Team GB at the Olympics.
Wiegman was playing for
the Holland senior team by
the age of 16 and became
the first Dutchwoman to
win 100 caps and go on to
play 104 times for her
country, predominantly as a
midfielder — all whileworking as a PE teacher. In
2007, Wiegman had the
chance to become head
coach of Den Haag in the
Eredivisie Vrouwen as a
semi-professional, a chance
that she initially rejected,
demanding a full-time
role for the good of the
team. They eventually
agreed.
Having won the league
once and the Dutch Cup
twice, by 2014 she began
her association with the
national team as assistant
manager. Holland exited the
2015 World Cup in the
round of 16 and Wiegman
decided that she needed to
develop her coaching to
improve the team.
Undertaking her Uefa Pro
Licence, she coached at
Sparta Rotterdam, a men’s
professional team.
After Holland failed to
qualify for the Rio Olympics,
and Arjan van der Laan was
sacked in December 2016,
Wiegman had the
confidence to suggest that it
was her time to take the
reins. She identified that
that mentality was crucial,
that there was a need for the
players to believe that they
could beat the best teams.
Winning the 2017 Euros,
including defeating England
3-0 in the semi-finals, led to
a change in Dutch culture.
Wiegman’s side reached the
final of last year’s World
Cup before losing 2-0 to the
favourites, the US.
A proven winner, having
shown her tactical and
psychological nerve on the
biggest stage of all,
Wiegman was the perfect
appointment for the FA and
England, who could soon
benefit from the cultural
shift to women’s football
that she masterminded in
the Netherlands.Holland record
Won 43
Drawn 6
Lost 8Coaching honours:
International
Women’s European
Championships, 2017
Fifa women’s coach
of the year, 2017
Women’s World Cup
runner-up, 2019Domestic
Ter Leede: Dutch
Championship 2006-- KNVB Cup 2006-
ADO Den Haag:
Eredivisie 2011-12.
KNVB Cup 2011-12,
2012-13.
Wiegman’s CV
ERIC VERHOEVEN/SOCCRATES/GETTY IMAGES
Wiegman won 104 caps for
Holland and led her nation
to the 2019 World Cup finalSPORT
NOTEBOOK
Premier League in
Newcastle storm
The Premier League is coming
under pressure to review its
approval process for takeover bids
after the storm of criticism after the
collapse of the Newcastle United
buyout.
A petition has been signed by
more than 108,000 people and
dozens of MPs have joined calls for
the Premier League to explain why it
delayed a decision on the Saudi-
backed takeover for more than four
months.
The league is refusing to comment
but senior figures in football believe
that the lack of communication with
supporters during and after the
process was an error.Changing saddles
Julie Harrington, the chief executive
of British Cycling, is swapping
saddles to take on the same role at
the British Horseracing Authority
without even having had an
Olympics during her time in charge.
The Covid-19 crisis has been tough
for the cycling body, which is losing
15 per cent of its 285-strong
workforce. No sponsor has yet been
found to replace HSBC, which
exercised a break clause in its eight-
year deal in February, but it is set to
be announced soon that the bank
will continue its relationship to the
end of 2021, albeit at a lower level.Testing in tandem
Partners of cyclists from Team Ineos
will also be tested for Covid-19 if
they are together over the next two
weeks before the planned start of
the Tour de France.
Sir Dave Brailsford, the team’s
general manager, has accepted it
would be counter-productive to keep
Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas et al
inside a team bubble from when the
Critérium du Dauphiné ends
tomorrow until the Tour begins on
August 29 in Nice, so has extended
the bubble to cover their other halves.Betting firm lowers
stakes with Leeds
There seems to be no drop in
interest from betting firms becoming
the shirt sponsors of Premier League
clubs, though experts in the market
say they are being tighter with their
cash. Leeds United, who completed
a five-year deal this week with
SBOTOP, had wanted £6 million a
year but it is understood they had to
settle for a figure closer to £4 million,
still a club record for a commercial
deal.Martyn Ziegler
Chief Sports Reporter
Holmes plug
breaks rules
Dame Kelly Holmes, the double
Olympic champion, has fallen foul of
advertising watchdogs after plugging
a product on social media without
making clear that it was an
advertisement.
Holmes was sent a warning by the
Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA) after promoting a
compression-massage suit on Twitter
in June. The ASA’s rules say that
celebrities should make it clear that
they are being paid to promote a
product, such as by including #ad as
a hashtag.
In her tweet, Holmes, 50, gushedabout the compression suit saying: “I
use after exercise to aids [sic] quicker
muscle recovery”, and encouraged
her 142,000 followers to click on the
firm’s website.
It prompted a complaint to the
ASA from the charity researcher Dr
Alex May and the body confirmed
there were potential problems with
the post.
An ASA spokesman said: “Our
rules require that ads are ‘obviously
identifiable’. That means, where an
influencer is paid by a brand/
advertiser to post, the post should be
labelled clearly and upfront so that
the consumer who sees/hears/
interacts with it knows/understands
from the outset that they are being
advertised to. The quickest and
easiest way of doing this is to label it
#ad or similar.
“We have contacted the advertiser/Dame Kelly Holmes and issued an
advice notice.” Holmes did not
respond when asked for comment.
She is not the first ex-sports star to
fall foul of the guidelines. In May the
2016 Olympic hockey gold medal-
winner Sam Quek, who co-hosts
Radio 5 Live’s football phone-in 606 ,
was warned by the ASA after
promoting a weekly prediction game
that allows people to bet on matches.