An Atlético Madrid player signed the joint letter. A former coach is heavily accused.
24 players from various Venezuelan women's national football teams have accused a former coach of sexual harassment and abuse. They signed a letter bringing charges against Kenneth Zseremeta, who headed selection teams at various levels in Venezuela for nine years until he was fired in 2017.
Broken silence
Atlético Madrid star player Deyna Castellanos signed and published the joint letter on their social media channels. The players said they had “decided to break their silence in order to avoid situations of abuse and harassment – physical, psychological and sexual – in the future.”
The letter said a player revealed last year that she had been sexually abused by her coach since she was 14 years old. The player's name was not mentioned. In addition, Zseremeta is said to have repeatedly asked the players about their sexuality and sexual orientation, among other things. There have also been cases of “physical and psychological abuse during training units”.
Zseremeta (55), who returned to his native Panama a long time ago and continues to train women's teams there, has not yet commented on the allegations. There has also been no reaction from the Venezuelan Football Association.
Only in the previous week had an abuse scandal about former coaches in the US women's soccer professional league NWSL caused a stir and layoffs. In addition, league boss Lisa Baird had resigned. The game was interrupted last weekend.
