Obert Zhoya

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Obert Zhoya
Obert Zhoya.jpeg
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BornObert Zhoya
ResidenceZimbabwe
NationalityZimbabwean
CitizenshipZimbabwean
Known forFive-year ban from football by FIFA for sexual harassment of 3 female referees

Obert Zhoya is a former Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Referees Committee secretary-general.

Personal Details

No information could be found on his age, place of birth, or family.

School / Education

No information could be found on his Junior or High School, or any tertiary education.

Sexual Harassment Allegations

Zhoya resigned from his post as secretary-general of the ZIFA Referees Committee after he was accused by some female referees of sexual harassment.[1]

One of his alleged victims wrote a letter of complaint to ZIFA claiming she had received a series of WhatsApp messages from Zhoya asking for her to spend the night with him in a hotel. The letter read in part:

I would like to put on record that he had been making these unwelcome sexual advances since September 2019.

The allegations I make herein are backed by evidence in the form of phone call voice recordings. I then got courage from the evidence I had and learned that I’m not the only one (who) was subject to this harassment.

I have been on the ZIFA (referees) panel since 2019, I’m 30 years old. I expected to be treated with respect, not like a lady of the night.

I, however, request you to look into the matter and possibly address the issue and in the process protect me and my fellow female referees who are suffering silently.

Ban by FIFA for sexual harassment

On 1 September 2022, Zhoya was handed a five-year ban from all football-related activity by FIFA after he was found guilty of sexually harassing three female referees.[2]

He was also fined 20 000 Swiss francs (US$20 719.06) after an investigation by FIFA’s independent ethics committee. FIFA said:

The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has banned Mr Obert Zhoya, former secretary general of the referees committee of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) from all football-related activities for a duration of five years, after having found him guilty of abusing his position to sexually harass three female ZIFA referees. Upon careful analysis of the written statements of the victims as well as the various evidence collected during the investigations conducted by the investigatory chamber, the adjudicatory chamber was comfortably satisfied that Mr Zhoya had breached art. 23 (Protection of physical and mental integrity), art. 25 (Abuse of position) and, by corollary, art. 13 (General duties) of the Code of Ethics.

Police launched a formal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Zhoya after the victims reported the claims in December 2021.


Further Reading

  1. IT’S GETTING UGLY . . .Kamambo ally throws in towel, H-Metro, Published: 22 April 2022, Retrieved: 17 September 2022
  2. , Ed Aarons and Romain Molina, Fifa bans former Zimbabwe football official for sexual harassment, The Guardian, Published: 1 September 2022, Retrieved: 17 September 2022

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