Suspended for sexual misconduct, Ambrose likely to face police action

Panaji: The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has terminated the contract of India U-17 women football team's assistant coach Alex Ambrose for sexual misconduct involving a minor player.
Ambrose, a former India striker from Mumbai, was with the women’s team since 2019. He was sent back home from a tour to Europe last week for misconduct and the CoA, running the All India Football Federation (AIFF), issued the sack orders late on Saturday night.
“Alex Ambrose, Asstt Head Coach of Under 17 Women’s team has been sacked for sexual misconduct. Further action under process,” Dr SY Quraishi, former chief election commissioner of India and a key member of the CoA said in a tweet on Sunday.
Ambrose, 39, has now been asked to appear before the AIFF’s internal complaints committee on Monday. Sources said he is unlikely to attend.
“The AIFF terminated his contract for bringing the federation into disrepute,” a senior official told TOI. “The charges of behavioural issues against him are beyond doubt. The AIFF took action after receiving separate reports from the coach, manager and physiotherapist.”
Like Quraishi said in his tweet, Ambrose’s problems are unlikely to end with just a suspension. People close to the situation said a police complaint is likely to follow in the next couple of days with the appearance before the AIFF complaints committee part of the process.
The AIFF had not named Ambrose when he was provisionally suspended on June 30 but has now disclosed his identity and also the offence.
“It’s serious,” said another official. “The offence is against a minor so utmost care will be taken before moving ahead. The CoA is talking to lawyers, police and even NGOs to ensure that nothing is left to chance.”
The CoA has Justice Anil Dave, former Supreme Court judge, as one of its members.
India are preparing for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup later this year at home and are currently on an exposure trip to Norway. India lost all three games against Italy (0-7), Chile (1-3) and Mexico (0-2) at the four-nation U-17 tournament last week in Italy.