TheFifaethics committee process for investigating sexual misconduct has been described as “broken” and guilty of failing athletes “big time” after a report made to its investigatory chamber was marked “case closed” without the alleged victim being contacted nor any witnesses being interviewed.
The report, made to Fifa’s ethics committee in November 2024, contained allegations against Hubert Busby Jr, the current head of the Jamaican women’s national team, in relation to multiple incidents that allegedly occurred when he was coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team in 2010 and 2011.
Fifa, however, has told the Guardian the case is not closed and the “case closed” notification referred to the status of the reporting stage and not case management. Fifa said in a statement that it cannot confirm whether an investigation is active nor confirm the status of the report.
Confusion over how the ethics committee reporting process functions is the latest twist in a 15-year saga in which clubs, national federations, and Fifa have been accused of failing to effectively handle documented allegations of misconduct.
The report in question was made by former Vancouver Whitecaps player Malloree Enoch in November of 2024, following Busby’s re-hire as coach of the Jamaican women’s team.The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) falsely claimed that Busby had been clearedby Fifa in a previous investigation into alleged misconduct, which preceded his return.
The previous investigation into Busby had been requested by the JFF after Busbyhad been initially accused by Enochof making sexual advances while recruiting Enoch to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Busby has consistently denied allegations against him that have been previously reported by the Guardian.
In January 2025, Enoch logged on to the Fifa portal to check the status of her report, and saw a notification the case was “closed.” She claims she had not been interviewed by investigators nor informed of the case’s status. Enoch says she made multiple attempts to contact the ethics committee as instructed on Fifa’s website but was consistently redirected to offices that would or could not provide information to her.
“It’s a circle jerk,” Enoch told the Guardian. “The instructions say you have to go through a portal or go through the secretariat. I follow up with the secretariat and they are like ‘we can’t do anything for you.’ I clicked around the Fifa website and they don’t make it easy. Then they make it more difficult because no one can give you an answer.
“The buck just keeps getting passed. The system absolutely does not work. It is broken.”
Busby first took over the Jamaica women’s national team in 2020 but was removed the next year due to Enoch’s allegations. The JFF requested an investigation by the Fifa ethics committee that led to Busby leaving the job, But last November the Guardian revealed the JFF had reinstated Busby as coach of its women’s national team. The federationfalsely claimedhe had been cleared of allegations of serious misconduct.
At the time, Fifa said its ethics committee had closed a preliminary investigation into the original allegations without reaching any judgment, adding that it could reopen the inquiry if it received more information about the claims.
In November, Enoch attempted to submit more information on the case through the online portal provided by Fifa, but she could not successfully log in to the account. She emailed the ethics committee multiple times but did not immediately receive a response. When she did receive a response, the ethics committee secretariat advised her to send any new details to the email address of the ethics committee investigatory department.
Frustrated, Enoch opened a new complaint further detailing her allegations in 2010 and 2011 and added statements from other players who were members of the Vancouver Whitecaps team at that time relating to the club’s alleged management and the environment under Busby.
Though the incidents in question were nearly 15 years old at that point, Enoch was well within her right to do so. According tothe 2023 edition of the Fifa Code of Ethics, “offences relating to threats, the promise of advantages, coercion and all forms of sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation (article 24) are not subject to [a time] limitation period”.
The Fifa Code of Ethics also binds anyone working in football to inform the secretariat of the ethics committee of any “infringements” of the code and that failure to report will involve sanction, a monetary fine, and ban.
Busby has denied all claims of misconduct.
In January 2025, Enoch added additional information through the portal and in February logged into the account to check for updates to her complaint. It was then that she discovered the “case closed” message. She had received no additional information from Fifa on the status of the case.
According to Joanna Maranhão of Sports & Rights Alliance – a global coalition of leading rights organizations that includes Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and the International Trade Union Confederation as members – Fifa is failing athletes who report allegations of sexual misconduct. Some examples include the organization’sslow-moving investigationinto Zambia head coach Bruce Mwape anda lack of responseto allegations against the president of the Afghanistan Football Federation.
“My mind always goes to the victim and what the victim is going through over and over again,” says Maranhão of the “retraumatization” that can occur when sexual misconduct allegations in sport are pursued, and especially if they are slow-walked or delayed.
A former swimmer who represented Brazil at four Olympic Games, Maranhão revealed in 2009 that she had been sexually abused at the age of nine by her then-coach. Her personal experience and advocacy eventually led to the Brazilian government passing a law that became known as “the Joanna Maranhão law” establishing a 20-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children and adolescents from the date of the victim’s 18th birthday.
“Worse than not having a system is having a system that doesn’t work, which is precisely the case here,” she said of Fifa’s process.
Asked if Fifa is failing athletes, Maranhão responded, “Big time.”
“Fifa doesn’t use its leverage to punish, sanction, and take these people out [of sport],” she said, adding that she believes Fifa does not acknowledge the courage it comes for an alleged victim of abuse or misconduct to come forward in sport. “That is where the main problem is when it comes to safeguarding in sport – the lack of trauma-informed approach.”
In a statement to the Guardian, Fifa said the ethics committee does not comment on the status of alleged cases.
“The Fifa ethics committee takes any allegation reported to it extremely seriously,” a Fifa spokesperson said. “Any allegation is handled in confidence and according to rules and regulations applicable to each case.
“Please note that Fifa’s reporting portal functions for the investigatory chamber of the Fifa ethics committee solely as a reporting mechanism and does not serve as a case management system. Consequently, the status displayed on the reporting platform is not linked to the actual status of a claim or any related investigation proceedings.”
Maranhão says that Enoch’s reporting roundabout is not unusual – that it is a function of sports organizations failing to self-regulate abuse allegations within their own sports.
“It makes me angry but it doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “The sports system keeps using its autonomy to regulate itself.”
Maranhão added that Fifa “should be held accountable” for its failings, and that its autonomy is preventing that from being so.
“What sticks for me is who is taking care of [victims]?” she said of sexual misconduct cases in sport. “Who is taking care of the constant trauma and harm that this person is going through? No one.
“We cannot hold sport as a moral compass and say that sport is a force for good when these things keep happening over and over again. I say this as someone who went to four Olympic Games. I love sport but I have been raped within the context of sport so I have lived both. It is important. The question is when will Fifa and the IOC and all sports governing bodies start acting and start taking care of the people who were harmed within their system? They have failed to protect them.”