Chelsea Women’s manager Sonia Bompastor has made a big admission in her recent autobiography.
The 44-year-old’s book, titled ‘A Life of Football’, uncovers that she has been in a relationship with Camille Abily, her assistant at Chelsea, for over thirteen years.
They have kept their love story hidden, fearing an invasion of their privacy.
As former players and coaches of Olympique Lyonnais, the couple have built a life together in secret.
They have four children, now aged between three and nine, whom they care for alongside their roles with the Blues.
“Revealing my life together with Camille, our relationship, after — as I say in the book — these thirteen years of lying, is still a subject on which, even today, we are not entirely comfortable,” she said in an interview with L’Équipe.
“We are rather discreet, and we like to have a completely normal life.
“Finally, we realized that having lied for thirteen years is a heavy secret to keep. With hindsight and our different experiences, we tell ourselves that we should have revealed it from the start.”
Her partner Abily added: “There is modesty, self-acceptance. Then, we were still two well-known players. We were already associated a lot with many things. We didn’t want it to be just that.
“These are not subjects that I necessarily like to discuss. I think it’s already a matter of self-acceptance. Everyone around us, our children, knows there’s no problem.
“But I’m not going to be the first to tell someone who doesn’t know. And yet, we were really lucky; it went well.”
Bompastor was appointed as Chelsea’s manager on a four-year deal in May 2024 with Abily at her side.
She took charge in her first match on 20 September 2024, celebrating a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.
In October, she steered Chelsea to the club’s first win at the Emirates Stadium and their first away victory at Arsenal since 2020, winning 2-1.
In the following month, Chelsea clinched a 2-0 win against Manchester City, soaring to the top of the WSL table with seven consecutive league victories under Bompastor’s leadership, achieving a remarkable ten wins out of ten matches across all competitions.
This start marked the best debut for any manager in the fourteen-year history of the league.
Bompastor and Abily continued their strong start to the season, with 13 wins in 14 league games and progressing to the Champions League quarter-finals against Manchester City.
“Camille is not my wife at work,” Bompastor continued.
“Camille is my duo, my assistant. We know each other so well; we also complement each other so well in our qualities that, as a result, we are very efficient in our work.”
Chelsea’s next game is away to Brighton in the Women’s Super League on Sunday March 2nd.
