FIFA appeals after CAS overturns rape ban on Haiti football boss

FIFA said on Monday it was appealing after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned a life ban for rape on former Haitian Football Federation president Yves Jean-Bart.

The governing body of world football said in a statement that it was taking the case to the Swiss Federal Court, “requesting its annulment and referral back to CAS.” 

In November 2020, FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee found Bart “guilty of having abused his position and sexually harassed and abused various female players, including minors.”

FIFA handed Bart, 73 at the time, “a life ban from all football-related activities” and a fine of 1 million Swiss francs (currently 1 million euros). 

Jean-Bart, the head of the Haitian football for two decades, denied that he raped young female footballers at a training facility outside Port-au-Prince over the course of five years.

He called the verdict a “parody of justice and a purely political measure” and  appealed to CAS.

On February 14, CAS annulled the ban finding the accusations of sexual abuse “inconsistent, imprecise and contradictory.”

FIFA disagreed.

“FIFA is concerned that this award contains a number of very serious procedural and substantive flaws, including the CAS Panel’s failure to evaluate key pieces of evidence that were offered by FIFA,” said its statement.

It said FIFA had ‘zero tolerance’ of “sexual abuse and misconduct in football”.

The case began with an investigation by The Guardian in the spring of 2020. 

Young women quoted by the British daily, said Jean-Bart had raped many underage players. 

Alleged victims told the newspaper, on condition of anonymity, that at least two underage players had abortions as a result of the rapes at the national training centre.