Allegations that Afghan women are at risk of sexual exploitation in an Arab country

World

13:38 09.12.2018(Updated 13:43 to 09.12.2018) Copy link

The prosecutor has decided to suspend the president of the Afghan Football Confederation and other officials in connection with an investigation into charges of sexual exploitation of female footballers, said Sunday a spokesman for the prosecutor.

President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the opening of an investigation after the British newspaper The Guardian last week quoted senior figures related to the women's football team, saying that a certain many of the players had been sexually assaulted by officials of the Afghan Football Association. According to "Reuters".

The prosecutor's spokesman, Jamshid Rasooli, said the officials had been suspended as a result of a recommendation from the investigative team.

According to the Guardian, the women were reportedly sexually assaulted at FAF headquarters and at a training camp in Jordan in February. The Afghan president called the charges "shocking and unacceptable to all Afghans".

An Afghan official said that it had been decided to suspend the president of the football federation Akramuddin Karim and five other officials, but that the investigation was still going to reveal more details.

Representatives of the President of ITU did not answer phone calls and text messages for comment.

The Afghan Football Federation issued a statement that the allegations were "unfounded" and would cooperate fully with any investigation.