AIFF suspends Deepak Sharma for alleged physical assault of two women players

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday has suspended Deepak Sharma, who is an executive committee member of the federation, for allegedly assaulting and misbehaving with two women footballers of a club during their stay in Goa for the ongoing Indian Women’s League 2.

Two footballers of Himachal Pradesh-based Khad FC, taking part in the Indian Women’s Football (IWL) League second division, had alleged that Sharma, the owner of the club, had barged into their room and physically assaulted them on the night of March 28.

“The AIFF Executive Committee has decided to suspend Mr. Deepak Sharma from participating in any football-related activities until further notice,” AIFF said in a statement.

The Goa police on Saturday has arrested Deepak Sharma and an FIR has been registered under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the complaint letter to the AIFF accessed by The Indian Express, the two women alleged that after a match in the Indian Women’s League second division, they returned to their accommodation and were boiling eggs as dinner was over. Sharma, who the girls alleged was in an inebriated state, barged into their rooms and assaulted them. The letter stated that Sharma was drinking alcohol in front of the girls during their journey from Himachal to Delhi, and continued to do so in Goa as well.

On Tuesday, the AIFF also dissolved the three-member committee formed on March 30 to probe the incident, and instead referred the matter to its Disciplinary Committee.

“The AIFF is determined to promote women’s football in a safe and enabling environment and will take all necessary steps to ensure this. The case has now been referred to the Disciplinary Committee and will be taken up emergently,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said.

“The AIFF has taken all steps necessary to ensure the safe passage of the complainants to their hometowns and will continue to provide any support that might be necessary.” He said the AIFF has been at the forefront of development of women’s football since he took charge as its president.

“There are currently 27,030 registered women players in the country with 15,293 registered between September 2022 and March 2024. The increase in number of women footballers in various age groups is one of the most encouraging trends,” Chaubey said.

“This season, we started the IWL 2 for the first time, and there is a definite plan to introduce promotion and relegation in the IWL from the next season. India made their best-ever finish (runners-up) in Turkish Women’s Cup recently and defeated European opponents.”

Serial offender

One of the women footballers, who was allegedly assaulted, told The Indian Express this is not the first time Sharma had assaulted someone. “We have seen him hit players from Khad FC earlier. I cannot take their names. When we were in the camp prior to this tournament, we saw him hit a girl. We were very scared that day but the players who were already part of the team said that he gets angry sometimes and these things happen,” she claimed.

“When it happened to me, I didn’t initially want to file a complaint. But if nobody complains, his confidence to get away with this would grow. I took a stand because I didn’t want someone else to be beaten up by him because I didn’t say anything,” she said, adding that the AIFF assured them that action would be taken.

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