Indian Football has been hit by non-stop controversies continuously lately with the Indian Football Team's poor performance against Afghanistan in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers being the center of it all. While head coach Igor Stimac is facing a potential sack, AIFF has been dealing with further controversies of mismanagement and are set to undergo a meeting with SAI over several matters including Stimac's future. Amidst this, Indian Football sinks further deep in controversy as two women footballers of Khad FC accused Deepak Sharma, the general secretary of Himachal Pradesh Football Association, of physical assault. Ousted AIFF Legal Advisor Writes to PMO Flagging 'Women’s Safety' at Federation Headquarters.

According to several reports, the two footballers named Palak Verma and Ritika Thakur were allegedly assaulted by Deepak in a drunken state, on Thursday night (March 28) in Goa. The players filed a complaint on the next day with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), requesting immediate action as they were ‘scared for their lives’. Himachal Pradesh’s Khad FC is currently playing in the inaugural edition of Indian Women’s League 2. Palak has led the team in two of its three matches so far.

Sharma, alongside being the general secretary of Himachal Pradesh Football Association, is also an executive member of the AIFF, the deputy chairperson of the competition committee and as per the federation’s website, also the chairperson of the federation’s infrastructure committee. He refuted the claims straightaway, calling them baseless. Sharma said that he scolded the players for not being disciplined and also mentioned that the issue is being blown out of proportion. He also talked about speaking to the AIFF about the allegations against him.

The complaint, whose copy was revealed by Sportstar, says, “As the dinner was over, we were boiling eggs as we didn’t get dinner. Mr. Deepak Sharma got offended and stormed into our room and slapped me (Palak) and Ritika and assaulted us physically. From the first day, he used to be in an inebriated (drunken) state.” The incident became public on the morning of March 29 and the match commissioner, Sujesh Rajan, took cognizance of the issue and reached out to the Goa Football Association, the host federation, for quick action. The GFA also filed a complaint at the Mapusa police station within hours. Female Staff Member at AIFF Headquarters Alleges Harassment by Male Colleague in Admin Deparment: Source.

GFA’s secretary Adlear D’Cruz confirmed, Deepak was the only male in the Khad FC contingent, playing its IWL 2 group-stage matches at the Duler Stadium in Mapusa. While Khad is set to be eliminated in the group stage, the two girls have requested a separate travel itinerary as they do not feel comfortable returning with the contingent. “The goalkeeping coach is supposed to make arrangements for their return (separately),” Adlear said.

On the entire saga, Kalyan Chaubey, the AIFF president, said that proper guidelines will be followed while investigating the matter. He also said that it’s necessary to “hear both sides” before coming to a conclusion. According to Indiatoday, the AIFF president said, “I recently heard that the normal procedure of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) will be followed as per the constitution. We will follow the guidelines. We will take this matter very seriously. There should be no encouragement for such behaviour in the society. We will get to the truth of it and take action accordingly. Not just players but coaches, ball girls, support staff, whosoever it is. We need to take an action. But there is a need to hear both sides. We can't make a decision in haste.”

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2024 03:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).