FIFA worldwide extends the suspension of former selector Kenneth Zseremeta, declared guilty of abuse

The FIFA worldwide extended the suspension of the former coach of the Venezuelan women’s team Kenneth Zseremeta, declared guilty of abuse, of all activity related to this sport for 20 years, since April 5, 2022, the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) reported Friday.

Through a statement, the institution said that it is a decision linked to «the serious accusations of abuse that have been subject to investigation.»

According to the FVF, the measure reaffirms its commitment «to the protection of victims and the eradication of any practice that threatens the integrity of sport.»

In April 2022, the Federation Ethics Commission declared Zseremeta guilty, to whom 24 players accused of sexually abusing one of them and having submitted them to physical and psychological harassment.

The sentence prohibits for a period of 20 years its participation in any type of activity related to football in Venezuela, which now has an effect throughout the world.

The FVF said that, last March, a process began to request that the sanction had a worldwide effect against FIFA, as part of its «firm determination in the struggle for justice and in active listening to the victims, as well as in the repair of their violated rights.»

«With this recent decision, the FVF, its administrative agencies of sports justice and women’s football receive overwhelming support in their mission,» he said.

On March 4, the Federation said that the Arbitral Sports Court (TAS), an international organ based in Switzerland, confirmed the sanction imposed by the FVF Ethics Commission against Zseremeta, which considered «the final result of a process that began more than two years ago.»

On October 5, 2021, a group of 24 Venezuelan soccer players decided, through a statement, «break the silence» to «avoid that the situations of abuse and physical, psychological and sexual harassment caused by the soccer coach Kenneth Zseremeta take more victims in women’s football and in the world.»

In it they affirmed that, between 2013 and 2017, «numerous incidents emerged around the figure of coach Zseremeta, the most common as physical and psychological abuse during training.»

In the text, they also explained that, in 2020, one of them «confessed that she had been sexually abused from the age of 14 by the coach», a situation that «lasted until he was fired,» in 2017.