FIFA has banned the former head of soccer in Afghanistan from the sport for life for sexually abusing female players.
Keramuddin Karim, who was president of the Afghanistan Football Federation, was also fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1 million).
The verdict came on Saturday after a meeting of the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee, the Associated Press reported.
Quoted by the Associated Press, FIFA says the “’investigation into Mr. Karim concerned the complaints lodged by at least five Afghani female football players, accusing him of repeated sexual abuse in the period 2013-2018, abusing his function as President of the AFF.’”
The issue was raised by a member of the Afghan Football Federation, Khalida Popal, who claimed last year in December that woman members of the federation were abused physically and sexually by male members of the AFF at its headquarters and at a training camp in Jordan in 2016.
Karim last week rejected the claims against him and his office which said he and other employees of the authority have sexually and physically abused female members of the federation including women football players in different occasions.
“It is a custom in Afghanistan that everything is good when someone is in (an organization), but everything is broken and disrupted when that person is out,” Karim told TOLOnews on December 9.
“I am really disappointed for their (women footballers) remarks and I am sorry that they made such remarks which are difficult for them and for any other person to prove the allegations. Now the issue is legal, and we must follow it,” Karim added.
Last year in December, the Attorney General’s Office announced a list which included the Afghanistan Football Federation members who were suspended and were banned from traveling.
The list included the following individuals:
• Keramuddin Karim, former head of Afghanistan Football Federation
• Nader Alemi, head of goalkeepers committee
• Sayed Ali Reza Aqazada, secretary general of the federation
• Abdul Saboor Walizada, head of provinces relations
• Rustam, an employee of the federation
The officials have been suspended from duties right now. The Attorney General’s Office sent a team to Europe in April to probe the issue and reports indicate that the investigation is still underway.
