In Guinea, the first results of the investigation into alleged sexual assaults on young female footballers should be revealed on May 20, 2024. This is information given to RFI by the Guinean Football Federation (Feguifoot). These investigations follow the revelations of French journalist Romain Molina last month who reported sexual abuse within a Feguifoot academy as part of “Championnes”, a program of emancipation through sport intended for young girls , financed by Fifa and the French Development Agency (AFD).
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It all starts in February 2023. Two years after the launch of “Champions” at the Nongo academy, in the suburbs of Conakry, a whistleblower anonymously contacted French diplomacy for a case of sexual assault on a young player benefiting from the program supported by FIFA and the AFD.
Feguifoot, accompanied by the police services of the Office for the Protection of Gender, Children and Morals (Oprogem) immediately carried out investigations. But, according to the Federation, individual interviews with the footballers and the management team ultimately yielded nothing, not even to identify the victim(s) and alleged attackers.
“ This investigation did not make it possible to qualify the facts and materialize themconfirms the director of the AFD in Guinea Jeanne Vanuxem-Milleliri. There was neither complaint nor evidence, and the whistleblower ultimately did not wish to answer our questions, which did not facilitate the field investigation. The AFD is very involved in this matter, we continue to follow the file. But we do not have a judicial investigation service, everything is in the hands of justice, the Guinean authorities and partners “.
At the beginning of June 2023, a case of sexual harassment surfaced in the same academy. A player accuses one of her male comrades of having entered the girls’ quarters shirtless, according to an actor in the Champion program who requested anonymity, and who relates instead: an attempted rape “. These new accusations, this time between residents, once again push international partners to contact Feguifoot by emphasizing the worrying nature of these allegations of repeated violence.
It wasn’t until a year later, in April 2024, that that the revelations of French journalist Romain Molina provide the anonymous testimony of female players, sometimes minors. Made public in the press, these accusations led to the precautionary suspension of three educators, first of the coach Sékouba Camara known as “Nesta”, followed by his replacement Mariama Diallo and another supervisor.
“ If the investigation confirms the allegations, the personnel concerned will be made immediately available to the courts. »
Following these provisional sanctions, and according to the Guinean journalist Facely Konaté, the president of the Federation’s ethics commission, Mohamed Diawara, set up two commissions ad hocone dedicated to the investigation of the case and another for a possible judgment.
But according to the journalist’s article, the president of Feguifoot, Aboubacar Sampil, would obstruct the work of this commission. “ Here too, there is misunderstandingexplains Mamadi Kaba, head of the Fifa Forward development program at Feguifoot. As the Federation does not have professional investigators specializing in sexual violence, we have established a steering committee with the AFD, Oprogem and the Regional Inspectorate. Once the report is finalized by these services, we will transmit it to the ethics and disciplinary committees. ».
Mr. Kaba tells RFI that Feguifoot will receive this Monday, May 20, the results of the investigations from the Regional Inspectorate and Oprogem (which did not wish to respond to RFI due to an ongoing investigation): “ If the investigation confirms the allegations, the personnel concerned will be made immediately available to the courts. Otherwise, there is also the disciplinary committee of the Federation which will intervene. The suspended educators signed a code of conduct. So, depending on the results of the investigation and even if the case does not go to criminal proceedings, the disciplinary committee will play its role. »