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AFGHANISTAN-FBL-WOMEN-ABUSE
Afghanistan slaps travel ban on football chiefs over sex abuse claims
KABUL, Dec 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Afghanistan’s attorney general slapped a
travel ban on five top football officials Friday, hours after graphic details
emerged of alleged sexual and physical abuse against members of the women’s
national team.
One player told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that Afghanistan Football
Federation (AFF) president Keramuddin Karim had lured her into a secret
bedroom near his office where he allegedly pointed a gun at her after hitting
her in the face and raping her.
“When I woke up, all my clothes were gone and there was blood everywhere,”
the player told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.
“The bed was covered in blood, blood was coming from my mouth, nose and
vagina.”
Another player alleged Karim threatened to cut out her tongue after she
managed to escape his unwanted sexual advances.
AFP’s calls to AFF spokesman Shafi Shadab on Friday went unanswered.
The attorney general has placed five officials, including Karim, on a “no-
flying list and banned them from travelling out following the accusation on
abusing the female players of the AFF”, attorney general spokesman Jamshid
Rasooli said in a statement on Twitter.
Earlier this month, the attorney general suspended the five men to
facilitate an investigation into the case that was first reported in the
Guardian in November.
Football’s world governing body FIFA also suspended Karim for 90 days over
the allegations.
The newspaper previously cited what it described as senior figures
associated with the women’s team who said the abuse had taken place in
Afghanistan, including at the AFF headquarters, and at a training camp in
Jordan last February.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had ordered the attorney general to conduct
a “thorough investigation” into what he called “shocking” claims of abuse by
male officials against members of the women’s team.
Afghanistan has made strides to promote female football. As well as the
national side, four years ago it launched its first all-women’s league that
ran in parallel with the men’s.
But the female teams were sidelined in 2017 by a lack of funding.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1730HRS