Guacci case and witness who wasn’t there: why didn’t a coach testify against the DT abuser?

The document that FIFA has published on its website on the allegations of sexual harassment made by a group of Argentine footballers against the technical director Diego Gucci, includes statements from another coach, who ultimately did not authorize official testimony for fear of reprisals. In the documents it is transcribed as Coach X.

The testimonies were presented by FIFPro, an entity that represents footballers around the world, a sort of global union. The five footballers channeled their complaints through that channel and then expanded them ahead of FIFA via video calls. Likewise, they specifically argued one of the statements with a coach, who first testified but then refused to testify in Zurich.

The declaration of Player Ein addition to abuse, it has another seasoning: the appearance of a second coach Guacci would have called to find out if his name was involved in the FIFA complaint.

“Coach X was collaborative, but a little concerned about being perceived as a troublemaker for Guacci, whom he identified as a man with ties.”read the report.

“Did she tell you I wanted to get her up and that I bothered her? Did he tell you I flirted with her and abused him?, explained coach X on the reasons for the call received from Guacci. In the document, the anonymous DT admitted that he was not surprised by the call because “it was known that Mr. Guacci behaved inappropriately with the players” and that was a “known secret that harassed players” and that this was information that “It circulated among the players”.

After his statements, FIFPro told him that the words would be part of the document presented to FIFA and that, if he wanted, he would contact Zurich to repeat his wording and answer the questions of the investigators.

“He wasn’t sure and said he would think about it and then come back to me. The next day he sent a WhatsApp audio message in which he explained that he had discussed it with his family, and also with player E, and had decided not to submit a statement to FIFA or grant permission to share his identity“FIFPro complained.

In any case, FIFA recorded the event, albeit without the new relevant statements. Despite the strength of the evidence, which has not even been rejected, the parent company of football did not sanction Guacci due to lack of local support: i.e. previous complaints before the Argentine Football Association (AFA) or the Argentine Ordinary Justice.

For this reason, footballers of all categories showed up to matches with a violent ribbon on their wrists: an international symbol that indicates that the wearer is in an emergency situation. In addition, on Monday, about a hundred footballers demonstrated at the door of Alfa asking to have allowed the accused coach to practice in Defense and Justice.