FIFA has banned a former Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) top official from all football-related activities for five years for allegedly sexually harassing three female referees.
FIFA said on Thursday that its ethics committee found former ZIFA referees committee secretary general Obert Zhoya “guilty of abusing his position to sexually harass three female ZIFA referees.”
Zhoya was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs (about US$20,400) by FIFA’s ethics committee for his crime.
“Upon careful analysis of the written statements of the victims as well as the various evidence collected during the investigations conducted by the investigatory chamber, the adjudicatory chamber was comfortably satisfied that Mr Zhoya had breached Art. 23 (Protection of physical and mental integrity), Art. 25 (Abuse of position) and, by corollary, Art. 13 (General duties) of the Code of Ethics,” FIFA said in a statement.
Allegations against Zhoya first came to light in September 2020 but a formal investigation only began in December 2021 after the alleged victims reported the harassment to the police.
JN/APA