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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) suspended an executive committee member of the federation, Deepak Sharma, for allegedly assaulting two women footballers. Sharma misbehaved with two players of a club during their stay in Goa for the Indian Women’s League 2. The footballers were from the Himachal Pradesh-based Khad FC, and they alleged that Sharma, who is also the owner of the club barged into their room and assaulted them on March 28.
AIFF released a statement on Tuesday and stated that the federation has decided to suspend Sharma until further notice. The official statement read, “The AIFF Executive Committee has decided to suspend Mr. Deepak Sharma from participating in any football-related activities until further notice.” Apart from this, the Goa police arrested Deepak Sharma along with registering an FIR under sections 323, 341, and 354A of the IPC.
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey shares update on Deepak Sharma's case
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said in a statement, “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.” He added, “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.”
Chaubey further said, “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. 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 next season. India made their best-ever finish (runners-up) in the Turkish Women’s Cup recently and defeated European opponents.”
