Women football players accuse drunk AIFF member of assault

Two women footballers have complained of physical assault against AIFF executive committee member Deepak Sharma in a hotel room during the Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2 in Goa on Thursday, March 28. The two players belonging to a Himachal Pradesh-based club Khad FC accused Sharma of slapping and assaulting them in a drunken state after which the Goa Football Association (GFA) and AIFF both acknowledged the registration of the complaint.

“Yesterday (Thursday), as the dinner was over, we went to our rooms to boil eggs. Due to this reason, Deepak Sharma got offended and stormed into our room. He slapped us, assaulted us physically,” the complaint from Palak Verma and Ritika Thakur backed by three witnesses read. “He was drinking in front of us,” the complaint said further of Sharma, the general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association and deputy chairman of the AIFF’s competitions committee, who according to them was in an “inebriated (drunken) state.”

The GFA intervened as the players suggested that Sharma had a habit of drinking and getting intoxicated even during the team travels, openly drinking in front of the players and it got escalated on Thursday reaching to the extreme of assault. The GFA filed a complaint with the Mapusa Police Station saying, “As an organizer and as part of the GFA, we felt that we should at least inform the police that so and so incident has happened. Now, the law has to follow this process,” written by the association vice-president Jonathan D’Souza as reported by Sportstar.

On the other hand, AIFF officials have ensured the safety of the players, having sent a safeguarding officer. Valanka Alemao, Chairperson of the AIFF women’s football committee said, “I have just seen the complaint copy and am rushing to see the team at the hotel. Such things cannot be tolerated. The AIFF will deal with this accordingly.” 

Meanwhile, Sharma has reportedly refuted any such claims saying that he only pulled a hand and was sober. 

The five-team IWL 2 will conclude in Goa on Saturday. Khad FC will take on City Bahadurgarh FC, who will be fielding just eight players with 12 of them leaving all of a sudden for the Haryana State Senior Women’s Championship.