Afghan leader orders probe into abuse of women football team

kabul — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called for an investigation into claims of sexual abuse against the national women’s football team, calling the allegations “shocking” and vowing to act immediately.

The president’s call comes days after the Guardian newspaper broke a story about allegations of sexual and physical abuse of members of the women’s team by male officials, including the president of the country’s football federation. “It is shocking to all Afghans. Any kind of misconduct against athletes, male and female, is not acceptable,” Ghani said after meeting with the country’s attorney general.

“I ask Mr. Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation Afghanistan has launched its first all-women’s football league four years ago. compliant with our legal codes into the issue,” he added.

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 the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) headquarters, and at a training camp in Jordan last February.

The story quoted 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.

AFF secretary general Sayed Alireza batted away the allegations over the weekend, saying the claims were untrue. However Hafizullah Wali Rahimi — president of Afghanistan’s Olympic committee — said such allegations were not new.

“The abuse by the head of federations, trainers and sportsmen have always existed. We have had complaints in the past, and this is an undeniable fact,” Rahimi said. —