Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor admits 'lying for 13 years' over secret relationship with assistant coach and former team-mate Camille Abily

Bompastor, who arrived in west London with an impressive track record from her time managing Lyon, brought Abily along as part of her coaching staff. Before stepping into coaching, Bompastor and Abily shared the pitch at Lyon, forming a strong bond that later translated into coaching success. Their time in charge of the French giants was decorated with silverware, including three domestic league titles, a Coupe de France triumph, and the prestigious UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Bompastor’s autobiography, A Life of Football, sheds light on another dimension of their partnership - one that extends beyond football. In the book, which was released in France on Wednesday, the Chelsea manager confirmed that she and Abily have been romantically involved for over a decade.

In an interview with L’Equipe ahead of the book’s release, Bompastor admitted that keeping their relationship private for so many years had been a significant burden.

"Revealing my life together with Camille, our couple, after - as I say in the book - these thirteen years of lying, is still a subject on which today we are not entirely comfortable," Bompastor said. "We are rather discreet and we like to have a completely normal life. Finally, we realised that having lied for 13 years is a heavy secret to keep. With hindsight and our different experiences, we say to ourselves that we should have revealed it from the start."

The book also reveals that the couple share four children, aged between three and nine.

Since taking over at Chelsea, Bompastor and Abily have continued the club’s legacy of dominance in English women’s football. Under their leadership, the Blues have maintained an unbeaten record across all competitions this season, reinforcing their ambition to achieve new heights, particularly in the Champions League - a trophy Chelsea are yet to win.

Reflecting on their relationship, Abily added: "There is modesty, self-acceptance. 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. I think it's a self-acceptance already. 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. And yet, we were really lucky, it went really well."

With their focus firmly set on silverware, the duo will have their first shot at a trophy for Chelsea next month when they face Manchester City in the League Cup final. Before that, they have two WSL fixtures against Brighton and Leicester followed by an FA Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace.