All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee member Deepak Sharma reportedly physically assaulted two female footballers of Indian Women’s League 2 (IWL 2) club Khad FC in Goa on Thursday night (March 28, 2024) over boiling eggs. The players complained to the AIFF’s competitions committee the following day. (More Football News)
“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 two players wrote in their complaint, supported by three witnesses, according to a Times of India report.
The report adds that the players said Sharma was perennially in an “inebriated (drunken) state” and carried alcohol with him when Khad FC travelled from Himachal Pradesh to Delhi before the league. “He was drinking in front of us,” the report quotes the players as saying in the complaint.
The Himachal Pradesh-based Khad FC outfit is in Goa to compete in IWL 2. Sharma is Himachal Pradesh Football Association's general secretary and deputy chairman of AIFF’s competitions committee.
The report added that the footballers said they were scared for their lives, prompting Goa Football Association (GFA) officials to go to the team hotel where the team's manager gave a written assurance, guaranteeing the players' safety. “I take responsibility for all the girls and will drop the players safely at their homes. Nothing will go wrong,” manager Nanalita Sharma told GFA as per the report.
GFA also informed Mapusa police in writing that “some girls were assaulted by Deepak Sharma, one of the accompanying members of the team, who was allegedly in an inebriated condition,” the report further mentioned.
The complaint has been received by AIFF officials and sent to its safety and safeguarding officer for suitable action. “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,” the report quotes Valanka Alemao, chairperson of the AIFF women’s football committee, as saying.
