Recent journalistic investigations have revealed a system of cover-ups and cover-ups.
In August 2021 in Debrecen, Hungary, Mali’s women’s Under-19 team becomes the first African basketball team to reach a world semi-final. A few weeks earlier, the same national team had been overwhelmed by a sexual abuse scandal directly involving the coach, Amadou Bamba, arrested by the Malian police and currently held for pedophilia, rape and child molestation. The system of abuses, brought to light by an investigation by Human Rights Watch e New York Times and from the denunciations of a particularly courageous young woman, it seems to have been covered by the top management of the local basketball federation and even by FIBAthe world federation, led by Malian Hamane Niang.
«On the one hand I’m proud of myself but on the other I regret a little, because this story made me miss my great opportunity» he recounted a German wave the first girl to report the abuse, whose name has been withheld for her safety. Her courage, having done what she had to do, was her condemnation of her, because since that day she has seen her teenage dreams shattered: «[l’allenatore] it destroyed my dream of playing abroad and the possibility of continuing to study». On the other hand the coach he had made it clear to her: «If you try to run away from me, I will remove you from the team!». She didn’t believe it, she was upset and in tears, while her companions consoled her, reassuring her that it wasn’t possible, Bamba didn’t have the right not to call her again from one day to the next. The harassment, however, continued, until the matter was made public also thanks to an investigation by Human Rights Watch, New York Times e German wave. Despite the scandal, followed by the arrest of Bamba, since the young girl filed a complaint to the police and the Malian Basketball Federation (FMB) he never wore the national team shirt again in which he played on a permanent basis, losing the Under-19 World Cup in which his team shone.
The official line of the Malian institutions, obviously, is that the girl was injured, which her father has always categorically denied in the various interviews given and refuted by some medical tests and x-rays carried out in the weeks immediately preceding the summons. This evidence was presented in the appeal organized by a team of international lawyers who volunteered to help the victim of the abuse, which however did not receive any response from the federation.
As if that weren’t enough, Amadou Bamba, who is currently in prison on very serious charges, is not defended by an office lawyer or even by any lawyer, but by a certain Jean Claude Sidibe, former Malian sports minister. And it is precisely because of a recent event concerning Sidibé that the 2021 affair has returned to the spotlight in this period: Sidibé, in fact, despite being accused of sexual abuse and threats against witnesses last December he was elected president of the Malian Basketball Federation. Yes, you understood correctly, the lawyer of the coach on trial for raping his own players is also the president of the federation in charge of that coach and of the national team. But that’s not all. Sidibé is very close to Hamane Niangformer president of the Malian Basketball Federation and since 2019 president of FIBA, the world’s top basketball body.
The victim’s initial complaint to the federation fell on deaf ears. But she and her father did not give up and decided to continue on this path, presenting the problem directly to FIBA, which initially did not respond. Almost a year later, the complaint is presented to the newly formed FIBA Safeguarding Council, a committee created for “safeguarding and protecting vulnerable groups”, on the basis of art. 98 of the internal regulation which requires the federations not to “commit any act of retaliation relating to reporting in good faith”. The Safeguarding Council reacts by entrusting the investigation to a law firm directed by Richard McLaren, already author in 2016 of the “McLaren report” which had brought to light Russian state doping. The report conclusive 149 pages long not only confirms the allegations of the girl and her teammates, but demonstrates a system of covers and cover-ups which linked the Malian federation to the international one based in Switzerland.
The McLaren report also recommends that the FIBA Disciplinary Commission review the evidence previously filed against Sidibè and assess his suitability to apply for any institutional basketball role. Advice that, apparently, has been completely ignored. According to Romain Molina, a French author who participated in the investigation of New York Times e you Human Rights WatchFIBA actively covered up the matter and prevented the coach from being suspended.
However, the investigations were certainly not simple and no one in Mali seemed to want to help bring about justice. The victim of the abuse testified before both the McLaren commission and the Malian police along with thirty other girls, but, according to her, they were forced by the police to give evidence in the absence of their families and their lawyers. McLaren instead admitted that there are “several and well-corroborated testimonies of abuse by the coach” but he also added that “many possible victims and witnesses have refused to speak with the MIIT (McLaren Independent Investigation Team) for fear of repercussions or for shame to tell details related to the sexual abuse”. The clear sense of urgency conveyed by the independent investigations by McLaren, NGOs and journalists, however, does not seem to have been absorbed by FIBA, which has so far not removed either Sidibè or Niang – who was suspended for a few months and then reinstated pending a judgement. .
Meanwhile, while FIBA is slow to take definitive decisions, the victim of the abuse has lost his place in the national team and even the peace of mind in everyday life. His father told German wave that his family has been forced to live for more than a year, victims of abuse that has gone as far as death threats. Her daughter was reportedly walking down the street one day when a man started abusing her. «She was alone, she was afraid, since she was a man she did not want to respond to the insults. So that man went ahead, and he told her that if the coach is punished, they will kill the person responsible [della punizione]». Another time she «she was on a motorbike with a friend who was accompanying her to the psychologist. At one point two boys arrived, also on motorbikes, and began to intimidate her until one of them pulled her by the shoulders making them fall ».
Despite everything she’s been through and is still going through, the young girl’s love for basketball persists and she remains hopeful that there is still a way to pursue her dreams. “I want to go to the United States to continue my studies,” she said. «I no longer feel safe here in Mali, I cannot pursue my dream. My biggest hope though is that I never have to play here again. I want to play in the United States and I still believe my talent will allow me to.”
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