For 20 years he has loomed large over Haiti soccer. Now he’s at center of sex probe
For two decades, Yves Jean-Bart has loomed large over Haitian soccer, a father figure in a country where people are as passionate about the sport as they are about politics.
Now, Jean-Bart, 73, is the focus of a sex abuse probe by FIFA which on Monday announced that its investigatory chamber has temporarily suspended Jean-Bart while it investigates allegations that he coerced young female players into having sex.
“This sanction has been imposed in connection with ongoing investigations concerning Mr Jean-Bart,” the Federation Internationale de Football Association said in a brief statement.
The suspension is for 90 days, and Jean-Bart, who has been at the helm of the Haitian Football Federation since 2000 and recently was elected to a sixth term, is banned from all soccer-related activities at both the national and international level.
Known as “Dadou,” Jean-Bart just recently started his 20th year as president of the Haitian Football Federation.
FIFA, which is still emerging from a 2015 bribery scandal, opened an investigation into Jean-Bart after the Guardian published an article last month on the allegations. The piece, quoting anonymous players and their families, accused Jean-Bart of coercing young female soccer players at Haiti’s national training center, the Centre Technique National in Croix-des-Bouquets, into having sex. The incidents are alleged to have occurred within the last five years.
Jean-Bart has strongly denied the allegations, calling them baseless. He said they were aimed at destabilizing him, the Haitian federation and his family. Following the article, several players staged a protest at the training center. In a statement he said the allegations are aimed at trying to oust him as head of the federation.
“These false accusations are as criminal as the practice of child sexual abuse. The design of the detractors aims to grab the FHF without going through the election process,” he said in a statement.
In a statement, the Haitian Football Federation called the allegations suspicious and highlighted Jean-Bart’s contributions to the development and success of youth training programs for Haiti’s girls and boys despite the lack of financial resources and support.
Feminists organizations in Haiti issued statements in support of the alleged female victims while demanding his suspension from the Haitian federation. Human rights groups have also demanded an investigation into the allegations.
Haitian police have also launched an investigation.
