In 2021, five players, some of them members of the Argentine National Team, filed a complaint for sexual harassment and abuse against the then technical director of the Under 15 and Under 17 National Teams, Diego Guacci.
This complaint was presented to FIFA and was collective, anonymous and accompanied by FIFPro, the international union of football players.
Diego Guacci was denounced by five footballers in 2021. (Photo: AFA)
A year later, in mid-2022, the highest body in world football closed the investigation and published a public domain report with its conclusion. According to this document, "the evidence in the file is insufficient to corroborate the facts reported by the players.".
However, the same report detailed that "said conclusion should not be considered as a recognition that the reported events did not occur."
When the ruling became known, the players from different Argentine soccer tournaments decided to show solidarity with the complainants and made the decision to wear a purple bracelet when going out on the playing field.
It should be noted that while the investigation was being carried out, the AFA decided to remove him from his position as coach of the youth teams.
The harsh story of the complaining players, five years later
Last Tuesday, five years after the complaint, the journalist Pablo Lisotto published in La Nación a note with the names of the victims, who recounted in first person what they declared to FIFA.
Although their testimonies are published in the report mentioned above, their names were not known to preserve their identities. Better said, their names should not be public, although Diego Guacci and his wife, Andrea Robledo de Guacci, were in charge of exposing them to begin harassing them on social networks.
The publication by Andrea Guacci after the FIFA report, where the names of the complainants do not appear. (Photo: X)
In their testimonies in conversation with Lisotto, the five soccer players stated that Diego Guacci attacked and harassed them individually and collectively, with sexual and physical references and persecutions about their sexual orientation.
Aldana Cometti, current captain of the Argentine National Team, said: "I feel sad and this injustice and public exposure based on bad faith creates a lot of helplessness in me, when the only thing I always wanted was to play in a healthy environment, free of abuse and violence. Since I was very young I have sacrificed and tried to give the best of myself in this sport that I love so much and which I represent in the Argentine National Team."
Gabriela Garton, former goalkeeper for the Argentine national team and current player for FC Bulleen Lions, recalled that the former coach told her after a defeat: "What do I have to do to make them play well? Put them in the shower and hold them by the or...?" Gabriela also added that, after her summons to the Albiceleste, Guacci rebuked her: "In front of my teammates he told me that I was a traitor. And he added: you are like all the others, capable of pulling down your pants and having you raped to be in the National Team."
Luana Muñoz, current Belgrano de Córdoba soccer player, stated: "It was common for him to take us to our houses after practice. Generally there were three or four of us. But on one occasion I was alone in his car with Diego and he started asking me a lot of questions about my sex life. He asked me if I liked girls or boys, if I was dating anyone on the team. He even asked me if I had already had my first time and he even asked me "He hinted at whether he had been with a certain teammate." And he added to his chilling story: "I was 15 years old and there were too many questions about very private topics where a coach has nothing to do. That made me feel uncomfortable and in danger. Since then I returned home distraught, sad, completely in a bad mood and with no desire to return to the club the next day."
The fifth player, who still decides to preserve her identity and who is the only one who has not been exposed by the Guacci couple, confirmed to Lisotto that she was "player E" in the complaint and told him, with great anguish, what happened 12 years ago.
"This was in 2014. I was 23 years old, I just wanted to play soccer in a club to try to represent the Argentine national team and suddenly my coach started making me inappropriate proposals. At first I acted stupid and told him that I was dating. But one night, at an inappropriate time, he called me on Skype, showed me that he was in underwear and with an erection and asked me for intimate photos," he recalled and detailed: "In response to my refusal he told me: 'This never happened to me Before, you're the first. You make me like that. Please don't tell anyone, I promise it won't happen again.' I didn't understand anything, and after a while I went to another club.
Lisotto asked her why she believes that until now they have never mentioned her name or surname and the player responded: "Surely they are not naming me because they know that my testimony is the one that most incriminates them and because they must be afraid that I have screenshots of that disgusting moment."
More cases dismissed by FIFA
After the complaint of these players, as confirmed to FutFemGol, at least 10 more cases reached FIFPro, however they would not be enough for the mother entity of world football.