The coach of a Brazil women's football team has resigned after several players accused him of sexual harassment, the club announced late Thursday.

Kleiton Lima, the coach of the Santos women's team, has "denied the accusation", the club said in a statement.

Several players had accused him of abuse during training sessions, of which they had sent evidence to club president Andres Rueda, reported Brazilian website UOL, without giving further details.

"An accusation like this is very serious and I will take legal measures," Lima was cited by UOL as saying.

He said he had never been the target of such complaints before, and accused players of trying to "tarnish" his 30-year coaching history.

Lima has coached the Santos team since 2022 and coached the national team for the 2011 Women's World Cup.

The accusations come as women's football is under the spotlight after Spain's football chief Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed a player after the country's World Cup victory last month.

World football's governing body Fifa provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days after he refused to resign from his post.

Some 81 players went on strike from the women's side in protest after Rubiales' fiercely defensive speech following the incident, in which he railed against "false feminism."

Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda, who guided his team to the World Cup title, was removed from his post by the Spanish football federation on Tuesday in the wake of the Rubiales scandal.