Rights groups on Tuesday strongly criticized the Afghan government for not managing to arrest the former head of the Afghanistan Football Federation, Keramuddin Karim, who is accused of being involved in sexual abuse against female members of the football federation.

The arrest warrant for Karim was issued last June, but so far he has not been arrested.

He has been banned from the sport for life and has been fined $1 million by FIFA.

Amnesty International has said that the failure to prosecute Karim demonstrates the lack of rule of law and the fragility of the Afghan legal and judicial system.

The rights groups said that the Afghan government has failed to provide justice to the victims of sexual abuse.

“The investigation of allegations of harassment within the Afghan Football Federation have been completed by the attorney general and were sent to the court for further proceedings, the court has already issued its verdict on three of the suspects including the former head of the AFF,” said Jamshid Rasuli, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office.

“No case illustrates as well the abject failure of the Afghan government to address the problem of violence against women and the fact that (name) is still at large, despite being indicted on multiple counts of sexual assault and coercion. The Afghan government is trying to convince the International Criminal Court that it is capable of delivering justice but it cannot even confront those politicians and others within the governmental institutions who are shielding (K.Karim) Meanwhile, the women who have been his victims have been betrayed,” said Patricia Gossman, Associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

“These problems will not be resolved until we manage to bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International's South Asia Campaigner.

“The human rights commission calls on the Afghan Ministry of Interior to take timely action regarding the issue,” said Zabiullah Farhang, the head of media department of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).

“The main issues originate from the lack of rule of law and the implementation of the law on those who support them (Karim) and who are serving in high level government posts,” said Maryam Naseri, a human rights activist.

On June 8, 2019, months after internal investigations and pressure from human rights activists, the International Football Federation (FIFA) banned Karim from the organization for sexually abusing female football players.

FIFA also fined Karim one million Swiss francs ($1 million).

FIFA found Karim guilty and said he “abused his position and sexually abused various female players, in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

Karim is accused of repeated sexual abuse of female players, the majority of whom were minors, from 2013 to 2018, according to the FIFA investigation.

On December 28, 2018, The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that it had put a travel ban on head of the Afghanistan Football Federation--Keramuddin Karim--and four other members of the federation in connection with allegations of sexual abuse against women football players by members of the federation.

The federation members who had been banned from traveling, included:

• Keramuddin Karim, head of Afghanistan Football Federation

• Nader Alemi, head of the goalkeepers’ committee

• Sayed Ali Reza Aqazada, secretary general of the federation

• Abdul Saboor Walizada, head of provincial relations

• And Rustam, an employee of the federation

Afghanistan is ranked one of the most dangerous countries for women, and allegations of sexual contact outside marriage can have deadly consequences.

Victims of sexual harassment are often extremely reluctant to come forward for fear that they will be accused of adultery.

The national women's team was formed in 2010. Some conservative-minded Afghans oppose women playing sports.