Women footballers accuse AIFF ex co member of assaulting them physically

Panaji: Two women footballers of Khad FC have complained that Deepak Sharma, executive committee member of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), physically assaulted them in the hotel room during the ongoing Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2 in Goa. The two players complained to the AIFF’s competitions committee on Friday. The assault is reported to have happened on Thursday night.

“Yesterday (Thursday), as the dinner was over, we went to our rooms to boil eggs. Due to this reason, Deepak Sharma got offended and stormed into our room. He slapped us, assaulted us physically,” the two players wrote in their complaint, backed by three witnesses.

The Himachal Pradesh-based club is in Goa to take part in IWL 2. Sharma is general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association and deputy chairman of the AIFF’s competitions committee.

The players said the senior official was always in an “inebriated (drunken) state” and carried alcohol with him when the team travelled from Himachal to Delhi before the league. “He was drinking in front of us,” the players complained.

The players said they were scared for their lives. This prompted the Goa Football Association (GFA) to act. GFA officials went to the team hotel where the team manager provided a written assurance, guaranteeing the safety of the players.

“I take responsibility for all the girls and will drop the players safely at their homes. Nothing will go wrong,” manager Nanalita Sharma told GFA.

Late on Friday night, GFA submitted a written intimation to the Mapusa police, informing them that “some girls were assaulted by Deepak Sharma, one of the accompanying members of the team, who was allegedly in an inebriated condition.”

AIFF officials confirmed receipt of the complaint and said it has already been sent to its safety and safeguarding officer for necessary action.

“I have just seen the complaint copy and am rushing to see the team at the hotel. Such things cannot be tolerated. The AIFF will deal with this accordingly,” said Valanka Alemao, chairperson of the AIFF women’s football committee.

Five teams are in Goa to take part in IWL 2 with the concluding matches being scheduled for Saturday.

Khad have lost all three games so far and will play their final game against City Bahadurgarh FC, who will be forced to field just eight players since 12 of them suddenly left to take part in the Haryana State Senior Women’s Championship.

FC Tuem (Goa) and SAG Football Academy (Gujarat) have both qualified for the next stage.



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