Chelsea Women's head coach Sonia Bompastor has revealed her 13-year romantic relationship with assistant coach Camille Abily in her newly published autobiography.
The revelation comes in Bompastor's book 'A Life of Football', released in France on Wednesday, where she discusses both their professional and personal partnership.
The pair, who joined Chelsea last summer following Emma Hayes's departure, have maintained an unbeaten record at the London club while privately sharing a family life with four children.
Before joining Chelsea, Bompastor and Abily had established themselves as a formidable coaching duo at Olympique Lyon.
Chelsea Women's head coach Sonia Bompastor has revealed her 13-year romantic relationship with assistant coach Camille Abily in her newly published autobiography
PA
The pair first played together at Montpellier before moving to Lyon, where they claimed six league titles as players.
Under Bompastor's leadership, with Abily as her assistant, Lyon continued their winning tradition, securing three league titles, the Coupe de France, and a Champions League trophy.
Both enjoyed distinguished international careers for France, with Bompastor earning 156 caps and Abily making 170 appearances.
Chelsea Women's head coach Sonia Bompastor has been in a secret relationship with her assistant Camille Abily
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In her autobiography, Bompastor revealed that the couple share four children together, aged between three and nine years old.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Bompastor acknowledged the burden of keeping their relationship hidden: "Revealing my life together with Camille, our couple, after these 13 years of lying, is still a subject on which today we are not entirely comfortable."
"We are rather discreet and we like to have a completely normal life," she added. "Finally, we realised that having lied for 13 years is a heavy secret to keep."
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Abily explained their initial reluctance to disclose the relationship stemmed from their high-profile status as players.
"There is modesty, self-acceptance," Abily said. "Then, we were still two well-known players. We were already associated a lot on a lot of things."
"These are not subjects that I necessarily like to discuss," she continued. "Everyone around us, our children, know, there's no problem. But I'm not going to be the first to tell someone who doesn't know."
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At Chelsea, Bompastor and Abily have maintained their winning formula, remaining unbeaten in all competitions this season.
The duo are pursuing Chelsea's first Champions League trophy while building upon the successful foundation left by Emma Hayes.
"Camille isn't my wife at work," Bompastor emphasised. "Camille is my duo, my partner. We know each other very well, we complement each other very well in qualities that as a result, we're very effective at what we do."
Chelsea Women's head coach Sonia Bompastor will be hoping to guide the club to trophies this season
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The pair will have their first opportunity to claim silverware for Chelsea in early March, facing Manchester City in the League Cup final.
Their success on the pitch has been built on a clear separation between their personal and professional lives.
