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Months ahead of the much-anticipated FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the former assistant coach of the nation's age-group women's team, Alex Ambrose, was accused of alleged sexual misconduct with one of the team members.
Reportedly, a POCSO [Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act] case has been registered by the Dwarka police in Delhi against the accused.
Newly elected All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran, in an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, discussed on Thursday, September 8, the steps that the federation can take to ensure the safety of women footballers even at the highest level. He said:
"In such situations, there should be zero tolerance. All the regulations and structures should be implemented to protect the players. If any such situation arises, then we need to make strict decisions at jet speed and stricter punishments should be put in place."
Going by reports, the alleged incident of sexual misconduct took place in June, during the U-17 side's preparatory camp in Norway. Ambrose was sent back to India and later sacked by the AIFF.
Meanwhile, the federation is yet to provide an update on the situation following the initial statement after the incident came to light.
Will try to do whatever we can to create a bigger legacy: Shaji Prabhakaran on AIFF's ambition to sustain impact of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
The former president of Football Delhi attended a press conference in Kolkata alongside new AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, executive committee member Avijit Paul, and deputy secretary general Sunando Dhar.
Furthermore, during a conversation with Sportskeeda, Prabhakaran, speaking about the lack of clarity surrounding the qualification to the Indian Women's League (IWL), stated:
"We can only talk about the roadmap once it's ready. Right now it's just my second day and it's too early to say what we will implement. But we definitely have to do everything possible to encourage and inspire more participation from women in football.
"It's also up to each State FAs to come up with a policy to address the current issues. The federation will be with the individual states to guide them and hand-hold them."
The FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup that was hosted in 2017 brought an incredible amount of interest to the game across the country. The tournament saw capacity crowds across venues and somewhat forced the governing body to focus on grassroots development. The upcoming women's age-group World Cup will also expectedly bring along a lot of eyeballs.
How does the federation sustain and enhance that interest going forward? Prabhakaran underlined:
"The new federation has just been put in place, and we now need to see what was designed surrounding the U-17 World Cup as per legacy. We have not seen anything yet but will be meeting the LOC soon.
"We can then decide if we require changes, but for now we have a very limited time. But within this period, whatever we can do to create a bigger impact and a bigger legacy, we will do that."
The highly anticipated tournament will kick off in India on October 11. The Indian U-17 women's team, coached by Thomas Dennerby, have been clubbed in Group A alongside the USA, Morocco and Brazil.
