The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has suspended its executive member Deepak Sharma days after two female players alleged he physically assaulted them in Goa to take part in the inaugural IWL 2 for a Himachal Pradesh club Khad FC.The Emergency Committee of the AIFF, comprising the President, Vice President, and Treasurer, met on Monday to discuss the incident in Goa. A meeting of the representatives of AIFF Member Associations was also held later. “Deepak Sharma was called and heard for a few minutes before he was advised to leave the meeting,” the AIFF said in a statement on Tuesday.
An emergency Executive Committee meeting was held today and after a detailed discussion, Deepak was suspended from participating in any football-related activities until further notice. The Executive Committee also dissolved the Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Pinky Bompal Magar and has referred the matter to AIFF 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 incident in Goa during IWL 2, should not be amplified to undermine the AIFF’s developmental efforts in women’s football.
The particular case has now been referred to the Disciplinary Committee and will be taken up emergently,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said in a statement. Deepak was arrested by Goa police for the allegedly incident but was released on bail on Sunday. He was arrested by the Mapusa police in Goa on Saturday after the two female players filed a complaint against him.The players had alleged that club owner Sharma had barged into their room and physically assaulted them on the night of March 28. A group of players, however, had claimed that Sharma was innocent. Sharma is also the secretary-general of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association.