Venezuela coach accused of sexual misconduct

Two dozen players from Venezuela’s women’s national football teams have accused former coach Kenneth Zseremeta of sexual harassment and abuse.

The players signed a letter making the allegations against Zseremeta, who led the women’s national teams at various levels in Venezuela for nine years until he was fired in 2017.

Atletico Madrid star Deyna Castellanos signed and published the joint letter on her social media channels as well as making a personal statement about a scandal that rocked the U.S. National Women’s Soccer League last week.

The 24 Venezuelan players said they’d “decided to break the silence to avoid the situations of abuse and harassment, physical, psychological and sexual.”

The letter said one player revealed last year she had been sexually abused by the coach since she was 14. The letter did not identify the footballer.

The players’ letter said Zseremeta repeatedly asked them about their sexuality and sexual orientation, adding there were cases of “physical and psychological abuse during training” sessions.

Other forms of alleged “frequent harassment” included phone calls with invitations, massages and inappropriate gifts.

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“Today we understand that these actions had the intent of manipulating us and making us feel guilty. Players of the LGBTI community were constantly questioned for their sexual orientation and the harassment of the heterosexual [players] was constant,” the letter said.

“There were threats and manipulation about telling parents of the players about their sexual orientation if they did not obey or perform as expected.”

Zseremeta, who returned to Panama and continued to coach women’s teams, did not immediately respond to the allegations. The Venezuelan football Federation are yet to respond.