The cases of alleged abuse and sexual harassment that Colombian referees denounced at the time against former referee Óscar Julián Ruizwere revived this Monday when the British medium ‘The Guardian’ published an article in which it reports that the cases reached FIFAwhose Ethics Committee investigates the accusations.
In its report, the media reports that Ruiz “has been accused of sexual harassment by 11 alleged victims and more than 30 witnesses. Imer Machado, director of the FCF referees commission, also faces allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by 14 alleged victims and witnesses”.
The complaints made at the time by former referee Harold Perillawho has insisted that Ruiz harassed several referees, were archived by the Prosecutor’s Office in August 2020.
The prosecutor in the case then considered that the complaint filed in 2019, by Perilla, was time-barred, since according to the investigation, the alleged harassment would have occurred between 2009 and 2016.
The accusations against Ruiz, although archived, once again gained strength, since Fifa confirmed that the case is under investigation.
“We have taken note of the information provided in your inquiry and can confirm that the matter is being investigated by the independent FIFA Ethics Committee,” a FIFA Ethics spokesman said. “Please understand that no further comment can be made. at this stage,” they told ‘The Guardian’.
Ruiz’s response
Given this new information, EL TIEMPO contacted Ruiz, who stated: “Fifa is free to investigate and hopefully it will investigate so that they reach the same conclusion as the Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.
Fifa is free to investigate and hopefully they will investigate so that they reach the same conclusion that the Prosecutor’s Office reached
Ruiz has had several complaints against him for sexual harassment. The first occurred in 2012, when he was accused before the Prosecutor’s Office by former referee Mauricio Sánchez Carvajal.
The second complaint was filed in March 2019 by Hárold Perilla, who became an international arbitrator in 2017. An accusation was also filed against Ímer Machado, today a member of the Technical Arbitration Commission.
In 2019, the former referee of the Meta school, Heiner Fabián Reyes Quevedo, also reported Ruiz to the Prosecutor’s Office, in that case, for violent carnal access to a child under 14 years of age.
Ruiz’s career
His resume highlights his two participations in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. In the first tournament he directed the game Netherlands vs. Ivory Coast, but had several drawbacks.
At the World Cup in South Africa, Ruiz was the central judge for the South Africa vs. France and Greece vs. Nigeria.
He was in charge of directing the finals of the 1995 South American U-17 Championship in Peru, and of the Argentina Pre-Olympic in 1966. In that same year, he was the central judge of the Super Cup and two years later he directed the final match of the Cup. America.
And in 2000, he was the referee who directed the final of the Intercontinental Cup and in 2001 he was in charge of the match for the final of the Mercosur Cup.
In the Copa Libertadores, Ruiz has his story. He coached the 2003, 2007 and 2014 finals, as well as the 2010 Copa Suramericana final.
So far, the former Colombian referee has whistled 57 games in the Copa Libertadores, being the judge who has been central in this contest the most times.
In 2010, Ruiz was chosen as the third best referee from 2001 to 2010, next to the Italian Pierluigi Collina.
The last match in Colombia that he directed was on June 4, 2011 between Millonarios and Equidad, while May 5 of that season was the last day he served as central judge in a Copa Libertadores, in the match between Cerro Porteño and Students of La Plata.
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