FIFA bans Haiti women's football official in sexual abuse case

FIFA ethics judges ruled Nella Joseph was guilty of “actively coercing and threatening (players) into engaging in sexual relationships” with the then-president of the Haitian Football Association.

FIFA expelled the long-time former Haitian FA president, Yves Jean-Bart, from football for life last year.

A football official in Haiti was banned for 10 years on Monday for her part in the systematic sexual abuse of women’s national team players.  She was also fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000).

FIFA ethics judges ruled Nella Joseph, former supervisor of the Haiti Under-20 women’s team, was guilty of “actively coercing and threatening (players) into engaging in sexual relationships” with the then-president of the Haitian Football Association.

FIFA expelled the long-time former Haitian FA president, Yves Jean-Bart, from football for life last year.

A FIFA judgment in Jean-Bart’s case said he raped girls as young as 14 and took “habitual mistresses” among players starting in 2014.

Joseph “failed to protect the physical and mental integrity of various female players who were under her authority and responsibility” at the national training center in Haiti, FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA said its ethics committee was working on other cases pending against Haitian football officials.

The allegations was first revealed in British newspaper The Guardian in April 2020.