AIFF suspends ‘physical assault’ accused Deepak Sharma from all football-related activities until further notice

The All India Football Federation on Tuesday suspended Deepak Sharma, the general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association, from all football-related activities with immediate effect.

“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.

Sharma, accused of physically assaulting two women footballers of Khad FC in an inebriated state, was released on bail by the Mapusa Police on March 31, a day after he was arrested, following an FIR lodged by the girls.

The AIFF Executive Committee, after an emergency meeting on April 2, has also dissolved the ad-hoc committee it had formed to investigate the incident and has referred the matter to an independent Disciplinary Committee. The federation has also taken necessary steps to ensure the safe return of the complainants to their hometowns and has offered to “provide any support that might be necessary” to the aggrieved players.

“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,” the AIFF president added.

Reiterating the Federation’s commitment to women’s football, Chaubey said: “There are currently 27,030 registered women players in the country. Between September 2022 and March 2024, 15,293 women footballers have been registered in the AIFF Central Registration System portal.

“The increase in the number of women footballers in various age groups is one of the most encouraging trends in Indian Football.”

The Indian national women’s team has enjoyed some positive results in recent times, beating a European side – Estonia 4-3 at the Turkish Women’s Cup – for the first time. In the domestic front, the seventh season of Indian Women’s League saw a new champion in Odisha FC, while the inaugural edition of IWL 2 saw the participation of 15 clubs.

“This season, for the first time in history, the IWL was played on a home-and-away basis, something that has been appreciated widely. To add to it, we have also started the IWL 2 for the first time, and there is a definite plan to introduce promotion and relegation in the IWL from the next season,” Chaubey said.