March 21 – French investigative journalist Romain Molina who exposed the reign of terror and sexual abuse allegedly presided over by form Haiti football federation president Yves Jean-Bart, is facing a defamation lawsuit brought by Jean-Bart.
Molina’s reporting in the Guardian newspaper and in YouTube videos painted a horrific picture of abuse of women in Jean-Bart’s (pictured) Haitian football academy and a culture of cover-up and intimidation.
It is perhaps the worst story of institutionalised sexual abuse in football, conducted allegedly at the highest level of the national federation, to have been brought to light. It triggered football’s stakeholders, in particular Fifpro, as well as human rights groups to further investigate.
A hearing in the Molina case is scheduled for March 27, 2023, in Paris.
“Romain Molina’s goal was to speak up for the powerless against the powerful,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.
“It is deeply troubling to see Haitian football federation leaders using the French courts to try to stifle press freedom and silence survivors and journalists.”
Last November FIFA banned Jean-Bart for life following its own investigation into sexual abuse, calling the sexual exploitation under his rule in the federation “inexcusable”. In February 2023, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a shock decision annulled FIFA’s ban on Jean-Bart.
FIFA are now appealing the CAS decision.
Jean-Bart has always maintained that this was a plot against him and his reputation. Human Rights Watch has documented witness reports of the abuse including in August 2020, armed men sent to find a witness to abuses at the workplace of the witness. The witness’s home was then shot up and ransacked. Human Rights Watch said it “has since documented multiple threats to witnesses, victims of abuse, and family members.”
At least three other vice-presidents of the Haiti federation have been suspended or banned for life for sexual abuse. One female former national player told Human Rights Watch: “My chance to play abroad depended on whether I slept with the president.”
“Impunity for sexual abuse has long remained an unacceptable norm in Haiti’s football federation,” said Worden. “Now Jean-Bart is trying to co-opt the French legal system in his pernicious efforts to stifle press freedom and silence survivors of sexual abuse.”
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