FIFA suspends Afghanistan football chief

Global soccer body FIFA has provisionally banned the president of the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) Keramuddin Keram from all football-related activities due to an ongoing probe into allegations of abuse in the country’s women’s team.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani ordered an investigation after Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported last month that senior figures linked to the Afghan women’s team had alleged that some players had been molested by officials from the football federation.

Keram and five other officials had already been suspended from their roles in Afghanistan at the weekend, before FIFA’s statement on Wednesday.

“The investigatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has provisionally banned Mr Keramuddin Keram… from all football-related activities at both national and international level,” FIFA said.

“This provisional measure expires 90 days after its notification and may be extended pending proceedings on the merits of the case.

“This sanction has been imposed in connection with ongoing investigations concerning AFF officials, as reported by local authorities and published by some media.”

FIFA said Keram’s sanction came into force immediately.

According to the Guardian, the alleged abuse took place inside the federation’s headquarters in Afghanistan as well as at a training camp in Jordan last February.

The AFF has denied the allegations and said it would fully cooperate with any probe.