ZCZC
BSP-19
AFGHANISTAN-FOOTBALL-FIFA-SEX-ASSAULT
FIFA investigating sex abuse claims on Afghanistan women’s team
KABUL, Dec 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Football’s world governing body FIFA is
looking in to claims of sexual and physical abuse on the Afghanistan national
women’s team, it confirmed in a statement Saturday.
The allegations against officials including the Afghanistan Football
Federation’s president Keramuddin Karim were reported in Britain’s Guardian
newspaper. The AFF has “vigorously” rejected claims.
“The serious subjects mentioned are being looked in to by FIFA,” the global
body said in a statement, adding that it has a “zero tolerance policy” on
such violations.
Given the sensitivity of the allegations, particularly in deeply
conservative, patriarchal Afghanistan, it said it was addressing the matter
in a “do no harm” way and working with reputable entities to establish the
facts.
The Guardian cited what it described as senior figures associated with the
women’s team who said the abuse had taken place in Afghanistan, including at
AFF headquarters, and at a training camp in Jordan last February.
It quotes former captain Khalida Popal, who fled the country after
receiving death threats and has spoken out previously about the
discrimination women face in Afghanistan, as saying male officials were
“coercing” female players.
“The story is not true,” Sayed Alireza Aqazada, secretary general of the
AFF, told reporters in Kabul Saturday, adding: “No sexual harassment has been
committed against any girl football player.”
“It is easy for us to cancel or eliminate the girls football team due to
the presence of the Taliban and the mullahs, but we don’t want to go
backwards, we support the girls football team,” he continued.
He also disputed the Guardian’s claim that Danish sportswear company Hummel
had withdrawn its sponsorship due to the allegations. Hummel has not
responded to queries from AFP.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the AFF also said it had not been
directly contacted by the accusers and been given no information to
investigate the allegations.
Afghanistan has made strides to promote female football — as well as the
national side, four years ago it launched its first all-women’s football
league that ran in parallel with the men’s.
In 2017 the female teams were sidelined by a lack of funding.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1849 hrs