FIFA worldwide bans ex-Altach official over secret recordings

FIFA has imposed a worldwide ban on a former SCR Altach football official who secretly filmed and photographed female players while they changed and showered in changing rooms between 2018 and 2025, ORF Vorarlberg reports.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s ruling is legally final, according to a response to the global players’ union FIFPRO, seen by the Austrian Press Agency. The Austrian players’ association VdF and FIFPRO jointly requested the ban.

“Anyone who secretly films players in the changing room crosses a clear line,” said Christos Papadimitriou, the VdF’s head of women’s football. He said the worldwide ban showed that people who seriously violate players’ rights could not avoid the consequences by moving abroad.

In February, the Swiss man was sentenced by Feldkirch Regional Court to seven months in prison, suspended, and an unconditional fine of 1,200 euros. The indictment named 15 girls and young women whom he had secretly filmed using a hidden smartphone or through a keyhole.

Prosecutors also accused him of obtaining and storing 188 image and video files containing child sexual abuse material. He was convicted over three images found on his mobile phone, while he was acquitted on the benefit of the doubt in relation to images found on his laptop.

He told the court that he had accidentally downloaded the folder on his laptop and deleted it immediately. He also admitted paying for access to a dark-web streaming service showing child sexual abuse. His lawyer said the recordings of the players had not been passed on to third parties, and that the defendant had entered therapy.