Khad FC women footballers file complaint against AIFF ExCo member Deepak Sharma

As per the players, Deepak Sharma has physically assaulted them.

In a shocking turn of events, two women footballers from Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2 Khad FC have filed a complaint against Deepak Sharma, regarding physical assault. Deepak Sharma is the deputy head of the AIFF‘s competitions committee in addition to serving as general secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Football Association. 

The incident unfolded in their hotel room during the ongoing Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2 in Goa, the duo wrote in their joint application to the All India Football Federation. “Yesterday as the dinner was over, we were boiling eggs as we didn’t get the dinner due to this reason Mr. Deepak Sharma got offended and stormed in our room and slapped me and Ritika and assaulted us physically.” the two players, Palak Verma and Ritika Thakur, supported by three witnesses, wrote in their grievance.

The players also informed that Deepak Sharma was always in an “inebriated (drunken) state” and carried alcohol with him when the team traveled from Himachal to Delhi ahead of the tourney. 

“From the first day he used to be in inebriated (drunken) state. As we were travelling from Himachal to Delhi before the league he carried alcohol and was drinking in front of us,” the players wrote. The players also mentioned in their application that they were ‘scared’ for their lives. They also said about the team manager Nanalita Sharma always defending the accused Deepak Sharma. The players also requested the AIFF to take an immediate action on the matter.

The organizers of the IWL 2, the Goa Football Association (GFA) intervened in the matter and notified the Mapusa police. The GFA in its application to the Mapusa Police stated, “Deepak Sharma, one of the accompanying members of the team, who was allegedly in an inebriated condition, assaulted some girls.”

The report has already been forwarded to the AIFF’s safety and safeguarding officer for appropriate action and now the onus is on them to take a necessary action in the matter, Khel Now can confirm.

IWL 2 this season

IWL 2 is being played in Goa by five teams, with the final matches taking place on Saturday. Khad, who’ve lost three games, will play their last match against City Bahadurgarh FC, who will only be able to field eight players due to the departure of twelve players to compete in the Haryana State Senior Women’s Championship. Both SAG Football Academy (Gujarat) and FC Tuem (Goa) have advanced to the next round.

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