Petr Vlachovsky’s non-contact sexual abuse has had long-term effects and could finally be the catalyst for safeguarding policy change for women and girls in the sport
Kristyna Janku answered the phone to a police officer, not sure what she was going to hear. She had heard the rumours, the gossip, and was not sure what was true and what was not.
The defender’s former coach Petr Vlachovsky, who coached women and girls at FC Slovacko for almost 15 years and was once voted the best women’s football coach in the Czech Republic, had been arrested and she was about to find out why.
The truth was barely believable. “A police officer called me and told me what had been happening and said that I needed to come to a police station,” she says, recounting the events of 2023. “When I got there I had to look at tapes, records, pictures, conversations he’d had online, and more. The police needed us to identify ourselves. Of course, we were shocked and couldn’t believe it was really happening, that it was for real, because it was like something you only see in films.”
Vlachovsky had been secretly filming Slovacko players in their changing room for four years. He had also been found to be in possession of content related to child sexual abuse.
