Oscar Julián Ruiz and 3 other referees involved in cases of sexual harassment

But in other cases, their names come to light followed by scandals that incriminate them from illegal actions. Such is the case of Colombian referee Oscar Julián Ruiz, who was recently accused of sexual abuse by another referee.

The alleged victim, former referee Heiner Fabián Reyes Quevedo, reported that Ruiz had raped him when he was thirteen, on the grounds that it was a requirement to become an arbitrator. According to the complaint letter, Reyes says that Ruiz told him "this time it's your turn, all the referees who want to be professionals must pass through here, through my bed."

It is not the first time that Ruiz has been denounced for sexual abuse, because the arbitrators Julián Mejía, Carlos Chávez, and Hárold Perilla also made the corresponding accusation in March of this year. In an interview with W Radio, Perilla also said that Ruiz "told him to have sex with him if he wanted to go far in arbitration."

At that time, Ruiz replied that he did not know such accusations; and even the president of the Major Division of Colombian Soccer, Jorge Vélez, spoke about it, stating that the allegations hurt Colombian arbitration, and about 35 arbitrators signed a letter expressing support for Ruiz.

Imer Machado

Amid the scandals, the Colombian referee, Imer Machado, was denounced for sexual harassment. Although he retired in 2016 after he failed the physical exams of the Arbitration Commission of that year.

That did not stop him from following closely in football, as he was the technical director of Palmares FC. Even so, along with the Oscar Julián Ruiz scandal, Machado was also denounced by Mejía, Chávez, and Perilla. In a dialogue with La W, Chavez said that after a game, Machado approached him and when he got out of the showers "he touched my butt, he said 'this tax is paid tonight', but I told him not". In addition, he said that "those who advance in the entity, have to be in his inner circle," according to El País.

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Martín Bustos

The former Argentine referee is already known for these acts because already in 2018 he had been accused and imprisoned when several Facebook and WhatsApp chats came to light where he made appointments with children under 17 years. Bustos was imprisoned until September of that same year.

However, in March 2019 he was arrested again after it was known that he was again exercising his methods to contact minors, this time from the Newell's team. According to the TN portal, Bustos was posing as a masseuse and thus abused them. According to the same source, “Room I of Lomas de Zamora ordered him and others involved, Leonardo Cohen Arazi and Alberto Ponte, released on September 13”.

Adam Ibrahim Ouda

According to US media reports, the juvenile arbitrator faces charges of alleged sexual assault on two 15-year-old girls. According to official sources, there were two more victims.

The accusations came to light after the father of one of the victims encountered chats in which there were sexually explicit messages on his daughter's computer.