Guardian: Gabonese male coaches sexually assaulted hundreds of boy players and sent them to officials

According to a joint report by prominent French independent journalist Romain Molina and correspondent Ed Aarons, who contributed to the Guardian, a long-time male coach in Gabon is facing allegations of rape, "domestication" and exploitation of young players.

Alleged victims allegedly abused boys several times during his tenure as head coach of gabon's U17 national team and technical director of La Ligue de l'Estuaire, Gabon's top league, allegedly victims. A former player who had been coached by him said Coach Ei would lead the alleged victims to his home, and he also called his home "The Garden of Eden."

In 2017, Ae left the echelon of the national team, but he continued to work with young players at La Ligue de l'Estuaire. He did not respond directly to the Guardian's questions about the allegations.

A former Fegafoot official said he tried to raise concerns about Eyi's sexual abuse allegations at a board meeting in 2019 and was dismissed as a result, an allegation Fegafoot denied.

According to the victims themselves, they did not contact the police in Gabon because they did not have confidence in the judicial system.

The FIA has filed a complaint with FIFA about allegations of sexual assault. Fifpro said it was deeply concerned about the allegations. "Our preliminary investigation has yielded consistent evidence from credible witnesses who have said that forcing young players to have sex is a prerequisite for getting a chance to play football has been a practice for a long time."

"If these allegations are true, it is further proof that football has been being exploited. Across leagues and continents, multiple abusers use football to approach, 'tame', blackmail and attack players. We must do more to prevent this horrific abuse and we call on the football governing body to take urgent action. ”

Several alleged victims were interviewed by the Guardian, and one who played for the U17 echelon in Gabon between 2015 and 2017 said he was abused by coaches on several occasions during his career with the national team. "He forced me to have sex with him." The player said, "It's a condition to stay in the national team. At that time, in order to help my family, I left the village. I live in the capital (Libreville) and being a professional footballer is the only way out of suffering, so I did what I had to do to help them. ”

He added: "Capello raped a lot of boys and he sometimes went to the countryside in search of new boys. He took advantage of the poverty of his children and gave some boys to other officials. In our national team, most people had to be forced to have sex with him. This has been a reality in Gabonese football for decades, but no one can stop their actions, there are too many of these beasts and there is no way we can stop them. ”

Two other victims said they attended a college called the Académie Club in Akanda, a suburb of Libreville, between 2017 and 2019, and that Ei had abused them.

"Sometimes, he would take some children to his 'Garden of Eden.'" One of them said, "He was nice to me, but every time I saw him he said I was beautiful. One day, he told me that some of the team members were playing airplanes... He smiled and left the office as if he were passing me a message. ”

He added: "I had some sex with Capello and I was forced. I gave up football, you know. I did my best for my family and now I live abroad because I can't go back. ”

Another player added: "Most of the children Capello bought from remote provinces or villages were from poor backgrounds, so he brainwashed them into believing that they had to give him sexual favors to get ahead. One day, another coach told us: 'If you want to play in the U17 national team, you know what you have to do.' ’”

The Guardian has repeatedly tried to contact Ae, but Ae has yet to respond directly to the reporter's questions. However, after the Guardian contacted him, he posted a series of messages on WhatsApp Status that appeared to be related to the allegations, one of which read: "Those who use lies as a weapon simply do not know what the other side of the mind is." ”

Gabonese football has been plagued by scandals in recent months, with former Rennes winger Stefan Nguema and four other former national team players arrested last month for protesting the continued cancellation of domestic leagues. Nguema later resigned as secretary general of the players' union, whose members said they had not received a salary for nearly two years.