The Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) reported this Friday that through its Ethics Commission the former coach of the women’s Vinotinto was found guilty Kenneth Zseremetawhom 24 players accused of sexually abusing one of them and having subjected them to physical and psychological harassment.
According to a statement from the FVF, published on its website, after the complaint made by the members of the women’s team, the Ethics Commission declared Zseremeta “guilty of violating articles 23 (non-discrimination) and 24 (protection of integrity physical and mental) of the FIFA Code of Ethics and articles 9, 13 and 27 of the Federation Statutes”.
Additionally, the sentence prohibits for a period of 20 years his participation in any type of activity related to soccer in Venezuela.
The payment of a fine of 8,000 “convertible units” from the FVF was also ordered within 30 days of this notification.
Likewise, former technical assistant William Pino was found guilty of violating article 24, number 3, of the FIFA Code of Ethics and article 13 of the FVF Statutes.
The organization banned Pino from participating in any soccer-related activity for eight years, as well as fined 3,000 “convertible units” from the FVF.
On October 5, 24 Venezuelan soccer players denounced Zseremeta for sexual abuse and harassment, which led to his arrest.
“We, the players of the Venezuelan national team from different processes, have decided to break the silence to prevent situations of abuse and physical, psychological and sexual harassment caused by soccer coach Kenneth Zseremeta from taking more victims in women’s soccer and in the world”, reads the statement that was made public on Twitter by the player Deyna Castellanos.
They stated that “from 2013 to 2017, numerous incidents arose around the figure of coach Zseremeta, the most common being physical and psychological abuse during training.”
In the text, they also explained that, in 2020, one of them “confessed that she had been sexually abused since she was 14 years old by the coach”, an abuse that “lasted until he was fired”, in 2017.
The Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office announced that same day an investigation against Zseremeta and Pino, according to the attorney general, Tarek William Saab. “The 79th national prosecutor has been commissioned with full jurisdiction to investigate alleged sexual abuse committed by Kenneth Zseremeta together with Williams Pino to the detriment of players from the Vinotinto women’s team,” Saab said in a message on Twitter.
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