Former Ghana Black Stars coach Avram Grant has landed in trouble after being accused of sexual harassment by several women in Israel.
The strong allegations were made by the women in a documentary, titled ‘Exposure’, broadcasted on Sunday.
Israeli Times reports that the controversial documentary included close to an hour of testimonies from women who claimed that Grant used his powerful position to attempt to coerce them into sex.
According to one of the women interviewed, Grant, who coached Ghana between 2014 and 2017, invited her into his apartment in June 2020 to help ‘find her work’.
“He told me, ‘make yourself comfortable, take off your clothes.’ I thought he was joking. I was sitting far away from him, on the edge of the couch. He asked me to come closer and tried to hug me, really grabbed me and did not let go.
“I felt uncomfortable, he put his hand on my thigh, and I remember immediately moving his hand. After a few seconds of talking, he grabbed me by the neck, as if choking me, turned my head to him, and tried to kiss me by force,” she said.
After running into the bathroom in tears she eventually went to sleep in a separate bedroom, where it is alleged she awoke to find Grant holding his penis over her head.
The same woman also played voice notes sent from Grant in the aftermath. In this audio, he is reported to have admitted to what he was accused of in the documentary, before saying: “I don’t discuss my private affairs with anybody, what I did with you or what I do with someone else.”
Other allegations included Grant making inappropriate comments and harassing a prominent female sports journalist over several years.
A well-known model also alleged that the 66-year-old stripped off and tried to convince her to have sex with him when the pair were alone together in a hotel room in England.
Grant has since responded to the allegations, releasing the following statement: “In my life, both in a personal and professional capacity, I have always sought, above and beyond any successes or achievements, to prioritize staying a human being and to respect every woman or man, whoever they may be.
“I am a people person, a man of friendships. And over the years I have maintained relationships with women. In all these relationships I have tried very hard to treat them with respect and friendship and I never intended to behave unfairly or in any way harm any woman. Anyone who has felt uncomfortable or hurt by me, I regret it and apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
The former Chelsea, West Ham and Israel coach guided Black Stars to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final which they lost on penalties to the Ivory Coast.
Source: ghanasoccernet.com
