CSA's Amelia Salehabadi-Fouques adds to Aubut sexual harrassment allegations

The allegations of sexual harrassment against Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut that caused him to step down for the duration of the investigation aren't the only ones out there.

After the story of a Canadian Olympic Foundation employee accusing Aubut of harrassment in repeated comments came out Wednesday night, Canadian Soccer Association board member Amelia Salehabadi-Fouques came forward to various French-language media outlets with her own highly-detailed complaints of repeated sexual harrassment from Aubut.

Salehabadi-Fouques makes several disturbing allegations against Aubut, including that he kissed her against her will in a restaurant, that he tried to get into her hotel room, and that he asked her "When will we sleep together?" in front of her 15-year-old son. She told La Presse that she first met Aubut four years ago in Montreal while she was teaching labour law at the Université de Montréal; according to her account, she set up a meeting with him at a restaurant to see if she could get involved with the COC, but he was only interested in her appearance and her personal life. She alleges he kissed her against her will, and said the kiss disgusted her. She told La Presse she had further run-ins with him last year, alleging that he tried to get into her room at a supposed business conference and that he asked her "When do we sleep together?" in front of her 15-year-old son before a Women's U20 World Cup match.  Salehabadi-Fouques also told Le Journal de Montréal she didn't come forward earlier thanks to fears of reprisal, and that she knows this happened to other women as well.

There's been no response from the COC or Aubut yet to Salehabadi-Fouques' allegations, but at the very least, they should be examined as part of that ongoing independent investigation. That investigation will be led by Francois Rolland, the former chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court. Aubut said in a statement Wednesday night that he expected the investigation to be resolved by mid-October, but that may change now that a second accuser has come forward. 

Salehabadi-Fouques' allegations are extremely serious, and especially viewed in conjunction with the initial complaints about him from a different woman, they raise significant questions about Aubut's future with the COC.