Fifa investigates after St Kitts appoint coach accused of sexual abuse

Fifa will request more details about the appointment of a coach accused of sexually abusing and harassing female players in Barbados after it was suggested that he was given “positive recommendations” to take over as director of football in St Kitts and Nevis by the president of the Barbados Football Association.

Ahmed Mohamed, a former Somalia defender who has managed Barbados and the British Virgin Islands, was appointed by Atiba Harris – the president of the SKNFA – in September.

According to Harris, Mohamed stepped down as technical director of the BFA last year for “family reasons” and was chosen after Harris “reached out personally” to the BFA president, Randy Harris, who is the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and a vice-president of Concacaf.

Mohamed left his post in Barbados in February 2021 after 27 players from the senior women’s team signed a letter at the start of that month urging the BFA to investigate claims made by one of their teammates.

It understood that she alleged the coach raped her at a hotel when she was 18 and that she previously received a series of unwelcome text messages from him. The player also claimed that she was threatened by senior members of the BFA after attempting to report her clams to the police. Another player alleged that Mohamed sexually abused her over a period of three years, starting when she was 13.

Last February some players also started an online petition demanding a “thorough investigation be carried out immediately”, after no immediate action was taken. “We didn’t put his name because we were afraid,” said one player who did not want to be named. “In our country, it’s hard for someone to claim that kind of thing, especially in sports.”

Mohamed left his