Suspended for life by the FIFA adjudicatory chamber in November 2020, Yves Jean-Bart saw his conviction overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on February 14. The former president of the Haitian Football Federation was found guilty of having “abused his position” to “sexually harass and assault several players, including minors”. But the CAS considered “incoherent, imprecise and contradictory” the evidence brought against it concerning the accusations of sexual abuse. On Monday, FIFA decided to appeal this cancellation to the Swiss courts.
“Fifa has decided to appeal against the CAS decision to the Swiss Federal Court, requesting the annulment of the CAS decision and a new examination of the file,” the body announced in a press release. It considers “that very serious procedural and substantive breaches were committed, in particular the fact that certain key pieces of evidence made available by Fifa were not taken into account by the CAS Arbitration Panel. »
A case revealed by The Guardian
“Fifa firmly intends to continue to protect victims of sexual abuse and misconduct in football and to apply zero tolerance to any such act perpetrated by persons subject to its jurisdiction,” added the international body.
Aged 75, Yves Jean-Bart had also been ordered to pay one million Swiss francs by the FIFA adjudicatory chamber. At the time of his judgment, he had denounced a “travesty of justice and a purely political measure”.
The case was revealed by the British daily The Guardian. On condition of anonymity, several players testified to the actions of the former leader. At least two underage players reportedly aborted after being raped by Yves Jean-Bart at the Haitian National Training Center.
