The People’s Majlis is looking into a case submitted by Mariyam Mohamed (Mayan), over the Football Association of Maldives (FAM)’s lack of support in her gender discrimination case against AFC, which the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has since concluded in her favour.
Mayan had appealed to Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed, to look into concerns relating to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) elections, where she competed on behalf of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) for the slot of the woman member appointed by AFC to the FIFA Council.
Mayan competed for a seat dedicated to a woman member on the AFC Executive Committee and the FIFA Council during the 29th AFC Congress in April 2019, following her defeat in which she submitted her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
In her case, Mayan had submitted two separate appeals against the AFC for gender discrimination and corruption. In her landmark appeal, Mayan called out gender discrimination on behalf of the AFC which limited participation for women, in addition to a claim that third-parties had attempted to influence the outcome of the elections she had contested in.
The CAS had gone on to rule in Mayan's favor in this case, noting that the AFC had been breaching their own regulations by perpetrating such discrimination against women, in addition to being in clear violations of FIFA statutes, Code of Ethics and the FIFA Guideline's for Promoting the Involvement of Women on the FIFA Council. In addition to this, the CAS had called out AFC's failure to conduct an investigation into the alleged third-party that had influenced the AFC Elections during the 29th AFC Congress.
While the CAS has ruled in Mayan's favor for the case, the court has stated that they do not have the authority to disqualify the elections in which Mayan contested for the women's seat for the South Zone at the 29th AFC Council. The seat was won by Bangladesh's Mahfuz Akthar Kiran, following which Mayan came forward with allegations that the President of the Olympic Council of Asia, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, had secured the seat for Mayan's competitor, Mahfuz Akhtar Kiran, after exerting undue influence on the elections. Mayan's claims that Sheikh Ahmed, along with others, had attempted to bribe and threaten her to withdraw her name from the elections, have since been validated by the CAS.
“These are landmark decisions. First of all, the appeals vindicate Ms. Mohamed, whose allegations were all upheld. It is never easy to come forward with serious allegations against established interests and have the courage to see them through... she did so at the risk of being sidelined from Asian football administration but also the administration of Maldivian football [and] deserves enormous credit, to come forward, to withstand the pressure that she was subjected to, to pursue her complaints to the AFC and then two appeals before CAS.”Mark Mangan, Partner at Dechert LLP, Singapore
Sheikh Ahmed, a Kuwaiti politician and nephew of the late Emir Al-Sabah, served as a member of the FIFA Council between 2015 and 2017. He resigned from the FIFA Council in April 2017 after being implicated in a US Court for having issued bribes while serving on the Council. However, he remains as the President of the Olympic Council of Asia, despite also facing trial in Geneva later this month for forgery.
Addressing the sitting of parliament on Wednesday, Speaker and Former President Mohamed Nasheed had noted while the international Court of Arbitration for Sports had concluded the case submitted by Mayan against the Olympic Council of Asia in her favor, there were many points of concern. Speaker Nasheed noted that thus far, Mayan had received no support from the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) in pursuing her case against the Olympic Council of Asia.
Mayan met with Speaker Nasheed earlier on Tuesday to share her concerns and story, where she appealed that he look into the case of FAM not being supportive of her taking on the President of the Olympic Council of Asia at the CAS. In a tweet posted following the meeting, Mayan had highlighted the many obstacles faced by women due to corruption and discrimination within the both local and international arenas for sports. She further expressed a desire to meet with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in relation to the case, and said that it was critical that all participated in the efforts to steer the Maldivian sporting community in the correct direction.
Despite Mayan's landmark victories at the CAS, the international court was unable to accept her appeal to disqualify the results of the elections where she was faced with bribes and threats to withdraw from contesting. The CAS notes that while Mayav's testimony about corruption within the election is deemed valid by the court, the court does not reserve the right to disqualify the elections. The CAS further added that the Asian Football Confederation would be the party to determine the final word on the validity of the elections.
