Kleiton Lima, the coach of the Santos women’s team, has resigned and an investigation has been opened after complaints from players of moral and sexual harassment, the São Paulo football club announced.
“The person concerned denied the facts with which he is accused,” said the Brazilian club in a press release, which however accepted his resignation. Several players accused the coach of “moral and sexual harassment” during training and sent evidence to club president Andrés Rueda, who for his part affirmed the UOL website, without indicating the identity of the complainants or their number exact.
Kleiton Lima, also quoted by UOL, categorically refuted these accusations and announced that he would take legal action to defend himself. “After almost 30 years of an impeccable career, I have never had any complaints for this reason. I do not accept that this artifice is used to remove me from my functions,” added the man who played more than 300 matches as coach of women’s teams and was Brazil coach during the Women’s World Cup in 2011.
His departure, after a year at the head of Santos, also follows an elimination in the semi-final of the championship last Saturday against Corinthians.
