Fifa appeals against Cas verdict on Jean-Bart because of ‘substantial flaws’

Fifa has confirmed it has appealed against the court of arbitration for sport’s (Cas) decision to overturn its lifetime ban on Yves Jean-Bart, the former president of the Haitian Football Federation (FHF), due to concerns over “very serious procedural and substantive flaws” in the verdict.

Jean-Bart – known as “Dadou” – was banned by Fifa’s ethics committee in November 2020 for alleged harassment and sexual abuse against female footballers after a series of investigations by the Guardian. The 75-year-old, who denies the allegations, appealed to Cas and the case was heard by an arbitral panel at the end of March 2022, which “unanimously noted the lack of coherence and inaccuracies in the statements of victims and witnesses presented by Fifa” when it announced its decision last month.

But after also rejecting an attempt by Jean-Bart to reclaim his position as president of the FHF, Fifa has now confirmed that it has filed an appeal against the Cas verdict with the Swiss Federal Tribunal and accused the panel of “failure to evaluate key pieces of evidence”.

“After having carefully analysed the Cas award, Fifa is concerned that this award contains a number of very serious procedural and substantive flaws, including the Cas panel’s failure to evaluate key pieces of evidence that were offered by Fifa,” read a statement.

“As a result, Fifa can confirm it has filed an appeal against the Cas award before the Swiss Federal Tribunal, requesting its annulment and referral back to Cas. Fifa remains strongly committed to protecting victims of sexual abuse and misconduct in football and will continue to apply ‘zero tolerance’ to any such acts perpetrated by persons falling under its jurisdiction.”

According to Cas’s statutes, it usually