Surprising. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed in a statement issued on Thursday 30 March FIFA’s decision to suspend the former vice-president of the Haitian Football Federation, Rosnick Grant (pictured above), for life. He had been found guilty of sexual assault and harassment, as well as threats, against female referees. He was banned in July 2021 by the international body, before appealing his conviction three months later to CAS. In its statement, the Lausanne-based tribunal explains that “the evidence against Rosnick Grant regarding sexual assaults was sufficiently convincing.” In itself, nothing very unexpected. But the CAS decision is contrary to the one taken in the case of Yves Jean-Bart, the former president of the Haitian Football Federation, who was also accused of sexual assaults, but on female football players, some of whom were minors at the time. Initially banned for life by FIFA, the Haitian leader appealed to CAS, which decided last February to cancel his suspension. The Swiss court justified its decision by citing “inconsistent, unclear and contradictory” evidence. FIFA has appealed the CAS decision to the Swiss Federal Court.
