daniel chigunweGrace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
THE pressure is on for football sexual predators around the globe to be brought to book and account for their shameful acts, with Gabon kit manager becoming the latest casualty to be arrested over sexual abuse of players.
A member of Gabon’s football federation (Fegafoot), Serge Mombo, was arrested on the tarmac of Libreville’s international airport moments after the team’s plane returned from the African Cup of Nations this week.
Mombo was a designated kit man in Cameroon, where the Gabonese were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by Burkina Faso on Sunday.
The arrest is part of the Gabonese government’s inquiry into alleged widespread sexual abuse in football following allegations reported by a top British newspaper.
FIFA have since opened an investigation into the serious matter.
A FIFA spokesperson told BBC Sport Africa that the Independent Ethics Committee is seized with the matter.
“Given the seriousness of the allegations being made, we can confirm that FIFA’s independent ethics committee has opened an investigation and is currently looking into the matter,” said a FIFA spokesman.
While in Cameroon, Fegafoot’s media officer explained that his organisation has launched an internal investigation to “effectively encourage the victims to speak out (and) allow young people to free themselves”.
“The Gabon football federation is co-operating with FIFA’s independent ethics committee to get to the truth,” Pablo Moussodji Ngoma told BBC Sport Africa.
Mombo has denied any wrongdoing.
Five members of Gabon’s football community have now been arrested following allegations made against some of them of raping and sexually abusing minors.
These include Patrick Eyi, a former coach of Gabon’s national Under-17 team widely known as ‘’Capello’’, as well as three local lower-tier coaches.
In Zimbabwe, FIFA and CAF are also monitoring allegations of a similar nature following the alleged sexual harassment of female referees by some top ZIFA officials.
The world football governing body, which claims to have a zero tolerance to issues of human rights abuses, has been accused of ignoring the complaints made by the victims, who also have volunteered to disclose evidence of the transgressions.
The Swiss headquartered organisation has since confirmed that it is aware of the allegations and a process is ongoing in accordance with the rules of competence set out in Article 30 of the code of ethics.
The plight of the victimised local female referees has caught the attention of the international media and this week respected English daily newspaper, The Guardian, revisited the matter, as calls for justice to prevail continue to gather momentum.
The allegations made against ZIFA’s Referees’ Committee chairman, Bryton Malandule, and secretary-general, Obert Zhoya, have since been reported to the local police.
The duo, however, is still walking free and they have been trying hard to cover up their mischief, which was high among the reasons why the ZIFA board was suspended by the Sports and Recreation Commission late last year.
“The FIFA ethics committee is aware of the allegations and a process is ongoing in accordance with the rules of competence set out in Article 30 of the code of ethics. Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage,” a FIFA spokesperson told The Guardian.
A CAF spokesperson said: “CAF is aware of the matter. We have been in touch with the relevant authorities in the country (Zimbabwe) because it is now a matter being handled by the relevant competent authorities in that country. There is nothing further CAF would say at this stage.”
Online Reporter