Former Haitian referees boss Rosnick Grant loses CAS appeal for lifetime sex abuse ban

March 31 - The lifetime ban from FIFA of former Haitian Football Federation vice-president and chief referee Rosnick Grant has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

FIFA has investigated Grant (pictured) as part of an investigation into his boss, former Haitian Federation president Yves Jean-Bart, following appalling allegations of sexual harassment.

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The FIFA Ethics Committee has identified Grant as one of the perpetrators of sexual abuse and lifetime ban in 2021.

Jean-Bart's own ban was controversially overturned by CAS in February, but Grant was unlucky despite the fine he was handed down from CHF 100,000 to CHF 35 000 CHF because of the disproportionate salary conditions to which he was subjected in Haiti.< /p>

The court said "the evidence against Rosnick Grant regarding the sexual abuse charges was sufficiently compelling" and upheld his ejection from the game. It was the lack of "convincing" evidence that was the reason given for CAS to overturn Jean-Bart's ban.

In its own investigation, the FIFA Ethics Committee had investigated "acts of harassment, sexual abuse, threats and coercion against female referees" by Grant, who had been both vice -president and head of arbitration.

Three CAS judges "considered that the testimony of a victim, who had traveled to Switzerland for the hearing, to be accurate, consistent and credible," the court said.

During Grant's two-day appeal hearing, “numerous witnesses were heard, some of whom received special protective measures,” CAS added.

“The panel also noted the inconsistency and vagueness of the statements of witnesses called by Rosnick Grant, most of whom stated, contradictory and unconvincingly, that the allegations against him were a conspiracy.< /p>

When FIFA banned Jean-Bart for life, it called the sexual exploitation under his rule "inexcusable". He too claimed there was a conspiracy against him.

Interestingly, Grant's ban was upheld by three different judges from those who cleared Jean-Bart, calling into question the consistency of the CAS deliberations.

FIFA, which appealed the CAS decision in Jean-Bart's case to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, alleged that he abused underage girls and had habitual sex with players during his 20 years at the head of the Caribbean island federation.

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