Basketballghana.com can confirm former Malian Basketball Federation President and current FIBA President Hamane Niang has been cleared of involvement in allegations of sexual harassment of female players following the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.
The investigation commenced in June this year and forced Niang to step aside from his role as FIBA President but has returned following the announcement of the investigation’s findings.
However, the suspension of four officials from the Malian Federation still holds including Federation President Harouna Maiga with three more suspensions handed to officials including Female Coach Fanta Diallou.
President Maiga according to the findings, ‘lied to investigators about his prior knowledge of sexual abuse as demonstrated by the evidence gathered’.
Coach Diallou according to the BBC’s publication of the investigation’s report, failed to report sexual abuse of her players while Coach Amadou Bamba who got suspended in June, had “’sexually harassed and abused multiple players’
This comes at a time Mali is mere days away from competing in the 2021 Women’s AfroBasket in Yaounde, Cameroon. The West African nation won the title in 2007 and is in Group C with Ivory Coast and Tunisia.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
