Head of Afghanistan Football Federation, Keramuddin Karim, on Sunday rejected the claims against him and his office which said he and other employees of the authority have sexually and physically abused female members of the federation including women football players in different occasions.

“It is a custom in Afghanistan that everything is good when someone is in (an organization), but everything is broken and disrupted when that person is out,” Karim told TOLOnews on Sunday.

“I am really disappointed for their (women footballers) remarks and I am sorry that they made such remarks which are difficult for them and for any other person to prove the allegations. Now the issue is legal and we must follow it,” Karim added.

Meanwhile, Shahussain Murtazawi, President Ashraf Ghani’s deputy spokesman said the issue should be thoroughly investigated.

“Any act against our culture, our legal and Islamic values is not acceptable in any ways,” Murtazawi told reporters at a press conference in Kabul.

The issue was also discussed by members of Meshrano Jirga, the Upper House of Parliament, on Sunday, where the lawmakers stressed the need for a probe into the incident.  

“The issue should be investigated and the results of the investigation should be shared with Afghans and the world in details,” said Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, deputy speaker of the house.

Shamila Kohistani, a former member of National Women’s Football Team, who lives in the US, said the women players were facing sexual abuse at the AFF.

“In general, there was sexual harassments in the federation, but talking personally, such a request was not made from me in any trip or by any coach,” Kohistani told TOLOnews.

Khalida Popal, another former member of the women’s team, said female players were abused sexually and physically at the federation and in their tours abroad by the AFF staff members.

The AFF chairman meanwhile rejected the claims of a fingerprint recognition system in his office that only opens by one person.

The AFF chairman told TOLOnews that the fingerprint system was installed in many doors of the federation for security reasons.

TOLOnews reporter Massoud Ansar, who visited the football federation and Karim’s office on Sunday, said the door of Karim’s office was opened by any person who wanted to get out of his office.

He said that Karim’s office had a meeting table and a desk for the AFF chairman.