AIFF suspends Deepak Sharma over alleged physical assault on two women footballers

All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday (Apr 2) suspended its executive committee member and general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association, Deepak Sharma, from all football-related activities with immediate effect.

Sharma was arrested by the Goa police over the weekend over a complaint that he physicallyassaulted two women footballers.

“The AIFF is determined to promote women’s football in a safe and enabling environment and will take all necessary steps to ensure this,” Kalyan Chaubey, the president of AIFF, said in a statement.

Apart from suspending Sharma, AIFF has also dissolved the ad-hoc committee constituted to investigate the incident. The governing body for football has now referred the matter to an independent disciplinary committee.

“The incident in Goa during IWL 2, should not be amplified to undermine the AIFF’s developmental efforts in women’s football. The particular case has now been referred to the Disciplinary Committee and will be taken up emergently," Chaubey added.

Why was Sharma arrested?

The complaint filed by the two footballers named Palak Verma and Ritika Thakur alleges that Sharma entered their room in an inebriated state, while they were boiling eggs for dinner. The high-ranking official then allegedly slapped both of them after getting offended.

Notably, Verma and Thakur were part of the women's team that travelled to Goa to take part in theWomen’s League 2 -- the second division of women’s football in India. Both the footballers play for Khad FC, a team from the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

After the complaint was filed by the club, the Mapusa police took action and registered a case under sections 323, 341 and 354A of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (formerly known as IPC).

"AIFF executive committee member Deepak Sharma was called for questioning during the day after a formal complaint was received. He was arrested by Mapusa police under various sections, including causing hurt, using force against women, among others," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandesh Chodankar.

Meanwhile, Sharma has refuted the allegations, claiming it was a small issue which had been blown out of proportion.

“It is all baseless. Someone is trying to provoke them and create an issue out of nothing. She just got eggs from outside around 11 pm. I just scolded her over timings. It was a small issue," Sharma said.

(With inputs from agencies)