Czech football coach who secretly filmed female players handed lifetime ban

Uefa has handed a lifetime ban from all football-related activity to Petr Vlachovsky, the Czech coach who used a hidden camera to secretly film his female players in their changing rooms.

Vlachovsky was convicted in May 2025, having been found to have filmed 14 players at FC Slovacko over a four-year period. He was convicted without a public hearing and handed a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban, which prompted calls from the Czech players’ union for his punishment to be broadened.

On Tuesday, European football’s governing body announced that after an investigation its control, ethics and disciplinary body had imposed a lifetime ban and written to Fifa to ask the world governing body to extend that globally.

Vlachovsky, who was also caught in possession of child sexual abuse material, had previously coached the Czech under-19 women’s national side. His youngest victim at Slovacko was 17 years old.

Alex Phillips, the secretary general of the global players’ union Fifpro, told the Guardian in April that this case was “the tip of the iceberg” but that players were frequently unsure how to report concerns.