Investigation Confirms Reports of Financial Basketball Abuse


Basketball’s world governing body painted a damning portrait of the sexual abuse of female basketball players in the West African nation of Mali in an investigation released Tuesday, but largely ignored reports of sexual harassment in her home country that the sport’s top global official knew about, in The New York Times. .

Hamane Niang temporarily resigned in June as president of basketball’s world governing body, FIBA, as The Times prepared. post a story About the systematic sexual harassment and harassment allegations by dozens of mostly young female actors in Mali since at least the early 2000s.

Niang, 69, was not charged with sexual misconduct. But his critics told The Times that he mostly ignored attacks on women during the dozen years between 1999 and 2011, when he first served as Mali’s basketball federation president and then as the country’s minister of sports.

And these critics told The Times that, by staying more inactive as FIBA ​​president, Niang continues to leave female players vulnerable to exploitation in his home country, a predominantly Muslim former French colony where women experience extreme inequality in everyday life.

At the time, Niang did not answer a series of questions sent to FIBA ​​and demanded its answer. But she told The Times in an email that she “never knew” about the sexual abuse accusations described in the article.

The next investigation, led by Canadian lawyer Richard H. McLaren, FIBA’s integrity officer, and released on Tuesday 149 page reportsaid it found that corporate abuse continued in Mali. However, the investigation found “no direct evidence from anyone about President Niang’s knowledge of sexual harassment.”

Niang made a statement. “This investigation is of great importance and I would like to express my personal and unconditional support to the victims,” ​​he said on Tuesday. These offenses must be duly prosecuted by FIBA ​​through independent procedures. Now that the Integrity Officer has confirmed my innocence, I will now resume my official duties at FIBA.”

The two then-young players, speaking anonymously, told The Times that Niang was present for a victory celebration in 2006 or 2007 at a nightclub in the Malian capital, coached by a close friend named Cheick Oumar Sissoko, known as a yankee. her breasts and hips while dancing with them. The cast told The Times that Niang watched and laughed instead of interrupting.

Another former player, Aissata Tina Djibo, now 31, said Sissoko repeatedly made obscene sexual remarks that Niang ignored in practice. Sissoko also said that she sometimes had sex with players who softened for fear of losing their place in the youth national team.

When asked if Niang was aware of Sissoko’s behavior, Djibo told The Times, “Of course he did. The Yankee was his best friend, they were hanging out together. That’s why the Yankee was so strong. He got the support of the president,” he said.

Frenchman Jose Ruiz, who coached the Mali women’s basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said he replaced Sissoko in the 2013 African championships after the two players filed a complaint with the Malian sports ministry about Sissoko’s behavior. Ruiz didn’t criticize Niang, but said he and Sissoko were close and abuse of female actors was “a big problem”.

Niang denied to FIBA ​​investigators that he went to a nightclub with the players or witnessed Sissoko’s inappropriate behavior. Investigators said no victims came forward to confirm the groping allegations.

While the FIBA ​​investigation was unable to independently verify the charges against Sissoko, it said “hearsay evidence provided by multiple witnesses is alarming”. Suspended by FIBA ​​in June.

The FIBA ​​investigation made harsh criticisms of the Mali basketball federation. The report said that “player abuse is institutionally acknowledged” within the federation and that “no action or effort has been taken to recognize or correct it”.

The report confirmed to The Times that 51-year-old Amadou Bamba sexually harassed and harassed multiple players as the head coach of the women’s national team and retaliated with some players who testified by not selecting them to compete in certain competitions. He has since been arrested.

The FIBA ​​report said Harouna Maiga, the head of the Mali basketball federation, lied to investigators about her knowledge of sexual abuse and tried to block the investigation. Suspended by FIBA ​​in July.

The investigation also accused Mali’s basketball federation of being “historically and currently” “completely inadequate” in providing the necessary measures to protect young players.

The report also noted that investigators were hindered by witness and victim intimidation. The report said 22 potential witnesses refused to participate in the investigation. Travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have also prevented investigators from traveling to Mali, allowing them to conduct most interviews virtually.

Critics of Niang said on Tuesday it was inconceivable that as the country’s basketball federation president and sports minister, he was not aware of the widespread sexual abuse in Mali. Cheick Camara, a reform activist who says he helped with the FIBA ​​investigation, criticized what he described as a lack of completeness.

“They know very well that abuses took place in Niang’s time,” Camara said. “As they say in their report, it is an institutionalized system. This system is not new; It’s been more than 20 years. No one, including Niang, did anything to change that.”

Minky Worden, director of Human Rights Watch’s global initiatives, which also investigates sexual abuse of female basketball players in Mali, reiterated Tuesday that Niang knew or should have known about the abuse.

“According to this report, he shouldn’t be on duty for another day,” Worden said. “This is not a man who should be running global basketball. Its global role is built on the Mali basketball federation, which in an almost 150-page report was found to be full of sexual abuse and also lacking any of the necessary legal protections for children.



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