FIFA ban former Afghanistan Federation president for life

The former president of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has been banned from all football activities for life by the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's independent ethics committee, following allegations of sexual abuse. FIFA said its investigation into Keramuudin Karim concerned allegations of "repeated sexual abuse" from at least five female Afghan players.

On Saturday, a day after the Women's World Cup got under way in France, FIFA confirmed it had found Karim "guilty of having abused his position".

In a statement, world football's governing body said: "The adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Karim had breached article 23 [protection of physical and mental integrity] and article 25 [abuse of position] of the FIFA Code of Ethics". In addition to receiving a life ban from all football-related activities at both national and international level, Karim has been fined one million Swiss Francs (£794,849).

Neither Karim nor the AFF were immediately available for comment. In a previous statement, the AFF said it "vigorously rejects the false accusations made with regard to the AFF's women's national team". Khalida Popal, a former player for the Afghanistan women's national football team, responded to Karim's ban by hailing a successful "first step".

In a Twitter post, Popal wrote: "Football is not a place for abuse, we shouldn't let the abuse culture [remain] in football. Women should be protected in the system."