FIFA has expressed fears on the contemporary abuse circumstances in ladies’ soccer, says they are simply ‘tip of the iceberg’
FIFA’s Chief Education and Social Responsibility Officer; Joyce Cook, informed CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies that there will likely be identical tales available in the market, and encourages other people to return ahead.
“And what’s clear is that part of ensuring that we have a safe sport means that we also have to provide a remedy for those that have been abused, that are being abused and to make sure that any perpetrators not only not welcome but banned from the sport.
“So I believe we will be able to see much more circumstances coming ahead evidently. And so we will have to and we urge other people to return ahead and to feel secure to take action.”
Former New Zealand international; Rebecca Smith, who worked at FIFA between 2013 and 2018, says she was “surprised” at the lack of structure around reporting abuse.
“There wasn’t a suite solution to set up allegations or knowledge that used to be coming in on sexual abuse or sexual harassment,” Smith told CNN Sport.
“And then simply the communications, each internally, externally to those that had submitted proceedings or problems, simply the loss of care and verbal exchange; it used to be truly disappointing if I’m truly truthful, as a result of I think like there is not anything extra essential than the well being and protection of the primary characters in-game.”
“So I believe it is much more prevalent, much rifer than what is available in the market within the public. And I believe that it must be a concern for governing our bodies and people who are those which might be liable for the well-being and protection of gamers,” she added.
When offered a right of reply to Smith’s comments, FIFA said that its reporting system, BKMS, was launched in 2013.
However, FIFA has another problem in the challenge it faces in dealing with the issue of abuse of women’s football — unpaid fines.
“We’ve were given levied a $1 million,” said Cook. “I imply, we have not observed the one’s fines being paid. And we haven’t any solution to put in force that as a result of, you already know, we need to sanction folks”.
In a statement sent to CNN, FIFA said recent reports of abuse in football show it is a “big problem that affects all of us and that cannot be tolerated any longer.”
“FIFA has shown that football has a zero-tolerance policy for cases of sexual abuse: anyone found guilty of misconduct and abuse will be brought to justice, sanctioned and removed from the game, “It said.
“At the same time, the entire global football community needs to do more to prevent such cases from happening and to take appropriate measures to support the victims.”
Football’s world governing body pointed to the work it has done in recent years, notably its FIFA Guardian Program and Toolkit for Member Federations in 2019, as well as the FIFA Guardian Safeguarding in Sport Diploma “to enable member associations to take the right measures”. To train and support implementation “to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable groups and to professionalize the role of the safety officer throughout football.”
Through a series of workshops and webinars aimed at youth, Guardians Safeguarding in Sports Diploma hopes to train and support security officers in FIFA’s 211 member associations around the world.
FIFA’s statement comes after it was announced that an investigation had been launched following allegations of sexual abuse by former Venezuelan women’s football coach Zseremeta, the country’s Attorney-General Tarek William Saab announced earlier in October.
Football star Deina Castellanos and 23 other players published a letter accusing their former coach Zseremeta of psychological and sexual abuse and harassment over sexual orientation.
