The Guardian - * Chairman Gudni Bergsson first to step down
* Board tried to cover up abuse claim against player
The whole board of the Icelandic Football Association (IFA) has resigned after it was claimed that it had tried to cover up an allegation of sexual abuse against Kolbeinn Sigthórsson, a forward for the national team.
On Sunday the chairman of the IFA, the former Bolton Wanderers player Gudni Bergsson, stepped down, having said in a TV interview last week that the association had not received any complaints of sexual abuse involving a player on the national team.
Before resigning, the board issued a statement apologising to victims of sexual abuse for having failed them, vowing to do better in the future. “Dear victims of sexual abuse, we the members of the board of the IFA, believe you and would like to sincerely apologise to you.”
The woman who filed the complaint, Torhildur Gyda Arnardottir, then went public with her allegation, saying that an unnamed player had groped her and later grabbed her by the neck in a bar in Reykjavik in 2017. She went to the police the day after the incident and filed a complaint against the player. The police investigation did not lead to the player, who has since been named as Sigthórsson, being charged.
Six months after the incident Arnardottir’s father sent an email to Bergsson and the other board members of the IFA to let them know about the complaint to the police and to criticise the fact that the player had continued to be selected for the national team.
After the email Arnardottir’s parents received a telephone call from Bergsson in which he said that there would be consequences for Sigthórsson, who was subsequently not selected for the national team for a brief period. Continue reading...