Portuguese coach suspended after harassment accusations

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Portuguese soccer club Famalicão suspended the coach of its women's team on Friday after a leading newspaper in Portugal published accusations of verbal sexual harassment by him of his players at a previous club.

Famalicão said that 'œin view'ť of the report published by Público newspaper that it was suspending coach Miguel Afonso 'œuntil the truth of the facts is ascertained.'ť

The club said it was putting itself at the 'œtotal disposition of all parties involved and the competent authorities to assist in obtaining the truth.'ť

The alleged verbal harassment of players, some of which were 19 years old at the time, reportedly took place while Afonso coached fellow Portuguese club Rio Ave during the 2020-21 season.

Público said that it had contacted Afonso but he declined to comment on the accusations.

In a statement, Rio Ave acknowledged that it had been 'œaware of some circumstantial comments reported by athletes regarding alleged inappropriate approaches by the coach.'ť

But, Rio Ave said it took no action because 'œthe coach denied such situations and, at the request of the athletes, the matter was not followed up.'ť

Famalicão, in a separate statement preceding the suspension of Afonso, said that when it hired Afonso it was not aware of the accusations.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports