Alex Ambrose, the former U17 head coach, faces criminal proceedings.
Alex Ambrose, the former U17 head coach, faces criminal proceedings. Alex Ambrose, who works as an assistant coach for the India Under-17 football team, has been charged with sexually harassing a player who is under the age of 17. The news is not surprising because the case is covered by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). This means that the case has a lot of legal ramifications for the Federation and other staff members who were on the tour when the alleged incident happened.
Since the news first came out on Thursday, Quraishi’s comment was the first public statement from AIFF. Quraishi himself confirmed the news on Friday, naming Ambrose and giving details about what happened. This was 48 hours after the AIFF released a vague statement.
In the meantime, there are many things to look out for.
Potential repercussions
The body in charge of Indian football has a lot of questions about the legal path to take. Is it enough to just fire the coach? It’s possible that the answer is no. The POCSO Act, 2012 is a law made by the Indian government to deal with the sexual abuse of children. Under this act, the coach, the support staff who confirmed what happened, the Federation, and even well-meaning people who know what happened but are waiting for proof are all under the microscope. The first step right now is to tell the police about this case and file an official FIR so that a proper legal investigation can be done on top of what the AIFF did. Here, the POCSO Act is critical.
Don’t let Ambrose coach.
Ambrose had many jobs in Indian football. He was the head coach of the women’s U-15 and U-19 teams, the assistant coach of the women’s U-17 team, and the head of scouting for the AIFF. In addition, he is known to be a part of the football coaching units in a number of Mumbai schools. He also had ties to a center for coaching in the United Arab Emirates. If Ambrose is found guilty of a crime, he should not only be banned from coaching the national team, but the AIFF should also take away his license and make sure he can’t coach anywhere in India. The AIFF must also write to FIFA to make sure that Ambrose never coaches anywhere again.
Offer an apology to the public.
The fact that the AIFF hasn’t apologized is terrible. They were in charge when this terrible thing happened, so they should at least say they’re sorry. They should apologize to the girls for not giving them a safe place to be and to their parents for not being able to keep them safe. The Federation needs to admit what’s going on and promise to take strong steps to stop these terrible acts. It needs to be clear about what is going on, give updates quickly, and make it clear what the next steps are.
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