New Delhi, Mar 30 (IANS): The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has constituted a three-member committee to investigate incidents of alleged physical assault and harassment on women footballers by an official during the ongoing Indian Women's League-2 in Goa.
"The AIFF was formally notified by players from Khad FC, participating in the IWL 2 in Goa, of certain incidents of alleged physical assault and harassment on them on Friday.
"In light of these allegations, the AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey called an emergent meeting of senior members of the AIFF to take stock of the situation and determine the next steps," the AIFF said in a statement on Saturday.
Present in the meeting were M Satyanarayan (Acting Secretary General, AIFF), Valanka Alemao (Executive Committee Member, and Chairperson, Women's Committee), Anilkumar Prabhakaran (Executive Committee Member and Chairperson, Competitions Committee), Vijay Bali (Executive Committee Member) and Mulrajsinh Chudasama.
"Based on these discussions, the AIFF President has constituted a three-member committee comprising Pinky Bompal Magar (Executive Committee Member and former India international), Rita Jairath (Safety and Child Safeguarding Officer, AIFF and Presiding Officer, Internal Complaints Committee), and Vijay Bali. Magar shall act as the chairperson of the committee.
"The AIFF President has instructed the committee to submit a report within seven days. In the meantime, Deepak Sharma, who was allegedly involved in the unfortunate incident, has been directed to step back and refrain from participating in all football-related activities until the conclusion of the committee's process. The AIFF is also working with the players involved to ensure their safe passage home," the statement further read.
Earlier, Sports minister Anurag Thakur also expressed his concern on the matter, and asked the federation to take quick action to ensure safety and security of women in football.
"The Ministry of Sports has taken serious note of an alleged physical assault upon women footballers by an official during the ongoing Indian Women's League in Goa. All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been directed to take quick action and ensure the safety and security of our footballers," Anurag Thakur wrote in a post on X. "The ministry has further directed AIFF to take strong legal action and inform the ministry about actions taken. The safety and security of players are our utmost priority."
It has been reported that some women football players from Himachal were allegedly assaulted by a senior official for boiling eggs in their hotel room during their stay in Goa to participate in the IWL 2023-24.