Female staff feels ‘unsafe in AIFF’; levels charges against top officials

New Delhi: Since September 2022, when the new executive committee assumed leadership, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has seemingly been synonymous with controversy. Amidst allegations of financial irregularities, rows regarding tenders, and pending legal cases, a female employee of the Federation has now claimed that top AIFF executives had disclosed her private information on social media.

The woman has filed a complaint alleging breach of confidentiality and harassment with the Internal Complaints Committee of the AIFF (a copy of which is in possession of IANS)

“On the morning of May 4, 2024, a video was made live on YouTube, wherein all my personal, confidential, and vital details were leaked and made public.

“The video had my offer letter, CV, and other personal details, which is a breach of confidentiality,” she alleged in the complaint, accusing three senior officials of the AIFF for the breach.

The complainant said the video was made live on May 4, and even after the Acting General Secretary accepting the leaking of emails, the concerned officials were not questioned.

“I went to the Acting General Secretary (ASG) on May 6 and asked him to take action against the video as it amounted to a breach of confidentiality. Despite all this, no inquiry has been called.

“We feel unsafe in such an organisation, where personal and confidential data can be released,” she said, adding that even private pictures can be leaked from the washrooms, which have no female cleaning staff.

“I also feel unsafe and threatened outside the office by these people for whatever has been happening,” she added in the complaint.

When contacted by IANS, the complainant refused to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, Acting Secretary General M. Satyanarayan said on Friday: "I don’t know from where a website got the information and carried the said video, which is not right. We have filed a complaint with the cybercrime unit of Delhi Police. Somewhere the leak has happened, which is a serious breach."

“Also, just 15 days ago, we put out an ad for a full-time HR manager and a full-time chief financial officer. Her (the complainant's) placement was not full-time. Since the other person (HR manager) left, we placed her there on an interim basis. The cyber crime unit has assured us that they will look into the matter and find out how the leak happened.” Satyanarayan added.

To recall, in March this year, the same woman had reached out to the Internal Complaints Committee with a ‘verbal’ complaint, accusing a male employee of harassing her.

Although the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) met in March to look into the matter, no action was taken as she did not file an official complaint following an assurance that she would be safeguarded.

On April 4, the AIFF said that it had closed the investigation into the 'verbal' complaint of 'harassment'.

"...The ICC would not be in a position to continue the investigation as any complaint and/or further information regarding the alleged incident has been denied by the concerned individuals. In view of the above, the investigation was concluded as withdrawn," the AIFF said in the statement.

Incidentally, on Wednesday, the AIFF executive committee approved the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) policy at the workplace.

The policy is to be implemented with immediate effect.

Based on the PoSH Act 2013, the AIFF PoSH policy is aimed to ensure a safe and inclusive environment within the football fraternity.

With inputs from IANS