Sepp Blatter accused of Sexual Assault

The 81-year-old Blatter served as Federation Internationale de Football Association president for almost 17 years before being kicked out of office and suspended amid accusations of widespread corruption. In the columns of the Portuguese newspaper, the footballer-american, also affirms that sexual harassment is "rife" in the world of sport and regrets that such behavior is "become the norm".

Hope Solo, the USA women's soccer (football) team's standout goalkeeper, says that former FIFA president Sepp Blatter sexually assaulted her in 2013 at an awards event.

She revealed: "I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass [turns towards her press assistant, Melinda Travis]".

Solo, 36, presented on the stage to present Federation Internationale de Football Association women's world player of the year alongside Blatter, to her colleague and striker Abby Wambach on the United States of America team that had won the gold medal at the London Olympics.

The 36-year-old expanded on the alleged incident when she told The Guardian: "I was in shock and completely thrown off. It was at the Ballon d'Or, right before I went on stage... it [sexual harassment] has been normalised".

Solo went on to add that sexual harassment was rife in all walks of life - claims she said she had witnessed with her own eyes - and stated that more needed to come forward with their stories to combat the "rampant" issue. "For years, in the past, female players date and end up marrying their college coaches, which obviously a coach should not be doing, especially with a young player".

"I've seen it not just with coaches". On his account Instagram, she wrote, with the hashtag #MoiAussi: "the past few days, I think back to all those uncomfortable situations that I and my co-équipières have lived for years with coaches, doctors, personal club..." I've seen it amongst players in the locker room.

When asked why she had never brought it up previously, Solo admitted it is because she usually like to take it up with the person directly, rather than flush it out to the press. "That's the way I've always handled things - directly". In other cases, for instance, I've told my teammates: "Don't ever f*****g touch me! Don't do it". It has been in the showers, it's been in the locker room. "I don't know why more players don't speak out".

On the official Fifa film of the event, which was hosted by the Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit and the broadcaster Kay Murray, Solo was shown coming on to the stage with Blatter from behind a curtain at the back of the stage, to present the award to Wambach. It was the Ballon d'Or I was presenting.

"I have seen this all of my career and I would like to see more athletes speak about their experiences", said Solo. He served as the organization's president from 1998 until the ban. In 2013, he called a female candidate for Fifa's executive committee "good, and good looking".

Related News:

11 November 2017

TPP countries to discuss agreement in principle on trade deal: Japan
It also has provisions for protecting everything from labour rights to the environment to intellectual property - one of the main sticking points.

04 November 2017

Jared Kushner's team turned over documents to special counsel in Russian Federation investigation
Trump's approval rating at 38 percent - the lowest for the survey since February, when he was a month into his presidency. Although Kushner's name has not yet officially come up in Mueller's investigation, it appears it is about to happen soon.

31 October 2017

Colton Haynes & Jeff Leatham Get Married After an 8-Month Relationship
When you learn to really love someone, it's completely life-changing. "It's just wonderful when you find someone who kind of teaches you to love yourself more", Haynes said.
11 November 2017

Alibaba Singles Day sales hit $1 billion in just 2 minutes
Alibaba's payments affiliate, Alipay, processed $17.8 billion of transactions on November 11 previous year . In two minutes of sales time, Alibaba's gross merchandise volume totaled $1 billion.

05 November 2017

Costello to start against Washington State
San Francisco, the major city closest to Stanford's campus in Palo Alto, recently went 35 years without snowfall . Washington State has had an up-and-down month, but the Cougars are pretty tough at home.

01 November 2017

For Halloween, Hillary Clinton Will Dress Up as ... the President
The former Democratic presidential candidate was interviewed in front of a large group of supporters by author Cheryl Strayed on Monday night.
11 November 2017

Three Chinese injured in auto attack in south France
Authorities say the victims were rushed to nearby hospitals, but none of them are suffering from life threatening injuries. La Dépêche du Midi newspaper quoted him as telling police he had heard voices telling him to harm someone.

04 November 2017

Check smoke detectors before time change this weekend
They say since recent events the calls have increased and she says they're going to need help from the community. The goal is to provide and install lithium battery smoke alarms , regardless of race, income or demographics.

02 November 2017

Nintendo Announce Black Friday Zelda Bundles!
There's no new game content in this particular bundle and customers won't even get the DLC that has been released for it so far. The package comes with the green 2DS, AC adapter, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D pre-installed.
06 November 2017

Panthers run for 201 yards in 20-17 win over Falcons
Add in poor situational coaching on offense and the Falcons have a mess on their hands as they head home to face the Cowboys. Adams left the game in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury, however, and wasn't involved in the Panthers' final stop.

05 November 2017

Bakersfield native and former National Football League player is primary suspect in wife's death
This comes as charges were filed against McClanahan for allegedly kidnapping his own 8-year-old son from school last month. Keri McClanahan reportedly fled from her husband multiple times since and had recently gone to Utah, the Tribune reported.

31 October 2017

Morata reminisces on his Juventus days
Alvaro Morata has denied he dislikes living in London, saying he would "probably" sign a 10-year deal at Chelsea if he could. When I say it's a special city, I'm only talking about the traffic and that there are a lot of people.