Football
Alex Ambrose, coach charged with sexual misconduct, linked with IWL club
Alarm bells have been ringing within Indian football over the past few days following reports that the former U17 India coach is joining Sethu FC.
Alex Ambrose had been sacked as India's U17 women's coach after allegations of sexual misconduct. (AIFF)
Football coach Alex Ambrose, who was sacked as assistant coach of the U17 Indian women's team earlier this year after being accused of sexual misconduct, has been linked to a club in the Indian Women's League, the country's top-tier professional league for women.
Multiple sources have reported that Alex Ambrose was recently in Goa with the Sethu FC team, the Tamil Nadu-based club who won the title in 2018/19, sending alarm bells ringing within the Indian football fraternity.
Phone calls to AIFF and the Sethu FC management to confirm whether the accused coach was back in a coaching role didn't elicit any response on Monday and this article will be updated if there is a response from their side.
The recent controversy came to light when reports of Ambrose's appointment by Sethu FC started a storm on social media over the weekend.
However, soon after this, Star Sports Tamil commentator, T.N. Raghu tweeted saying, "Alex Ambrose isn't joining Sethu FC, according to the club owner Seeni Mohaideen."
Whether the accused has joined the club or not, AIFF's deafening silence on the matter - now, as well as when the accusations first came to light - has made this a burning issue within Indian football.
Why had Alex Ambrose been sacked?
Back in July 2022, when U-17 Indian Women's team was on an European tour under coach Thomas Dennerby, assistant coach Alex Ambrose was sent back to India and was sacked later by the CoA running AIFF then.
According to reports, a player complained against the coach after her roommate, a player of the squad, was missing from her dorm and she raised the issue with head coach Thomas Dennerby.
There was a press release on the incident back then, but there have been no updates since July even though the release said that 'further action' would be taken against him.
During the U-17 Women's World Cup in September 2022, India's head coach Thomas Dennerby said, "Since that incident, we have put our sole focus on training. I think we have moved on from that episode and don't talk about it much."
The Bottomline - Lack of Accountability
Whether Alex Ambrose is with Sethu FC or not is not the real problem.
Indian sporting federations and institutions are notorious for sexual harassment with a total of 28 sexual harassment complaints being received during the period of May 2017 to May 2022 in government-run sports institutes.
The real problem is a glaring loophole in the administrative system, where there is a lack of transparency on what action - if any - is being taken against an accused.
With no clear verdict, the biggest question is on the safety of the girls who are part of this system.
India's way of dealing with sexual misconduct is unclear and lousy, to say the least. The young girls come with a dream to play the game and represent the country but with incidents like these coming up regularly, these dreams turn into nightmares.
Could the top brass of Indian football take note of the alarm the reports of Ambrose's return have caused and come out with a clear stance and a sense of accountability to ensure the trust of players and fans in the system?
