FIFA ban Haiti soccer chief after rape allegations

LAUSANNE: Haiti’s football president Yves Jean-Bart was banned for life by FIFA and fined over a million dollars on Friday.

The 72-year-old Jean-Bart is guilty of having abused his position and sexually harassed and abused various female players, including minors, the independent Ethics Committee of world football’s governing body has ruled.

The ongoing proceedings outlined “acts of systematic sexual abuse against female football players between 2014 and 2020.”

Jean-Bart was given a fine of one million Swiss Francs ($1.1 million) and has been banned from all football-related activities for life.

The investigation followed a report in British newspaper the Guardian in April that Jean-Bart sexually abused young female footballers at the country’s national training centre.

The accusations led to the opening of a criminal investigation in Haiti, as well as the suspension of Jean-Bart by FIFA on May 25.