FIFA has given a former Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) official a five-year suspension and a CHF 20,000 fine for harassing three female referees.
Obert Zhoya, the secretary general of ZIFA's referees committee, was expelled from FIFA after the organization's ethics committee found that he had "abused his position."
According to Inside World Football, Zhoya's suspension is effective right away, and he will be informed of the reasons for the choice within the following 60 days.
“Upon careful analysis of the written statements of the victims as well as the various evidence collected during the investigations conducted, the adjudicatory chamber was comfortably satisfied that Mr Zhoya had breached [three articles of] the code of ethics,” a statement on the FIFA website said.
Zimbabwe was banned from the game in February because of governmental interference and the latest sanction came after the ZIFA board was suspended by the country’s government-appointed Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) in November last year.
Alleged sexual harassment of referees was one of the SRC’s chief reasons for suspending the board, and the case against Zhoya is the first to be decided.
Allegations of sexual harassment against Zhoya were first reported by local media in Zimbabwe in September 2020 but it was not until the alleged victims reported the claims to police, in December 2021, that a formal investigation was launched.