Sex offender Steven Swarts suspended as Free State athletics president

Convicted sex offender Steven Swarts has been suspended as president of Athletics Free State (AFS), national governing body Athletics South Africa (ASA) confirmed on Saturday.

Swarts has been only temporarily banned, however, with ASA revealing that he will face a disciplinary hearing, in line with the federation’s constitution.

“Mr Swarts has been relieved of all his duties and functions in the sport of athletics pending the conclusion of a disciplinary enquiry to be conducted by ASA’s disciplinary committee,” the national federation said.

“The vice president of AFS, Mr Leonard Jingose, will act as president of AFS pending the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings against Mr Swarts or until elections are held to elect a new president.”

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Five-year suspended sentence

Swarts, who is the coach and stepfather of 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk and is married to Odessa Swarts (also a member of the AFS board), was given a five-year suspended sentence in 2020 after admitting guilt on charges of sexual assault.

This after a 21-year-old female athlete he coached alleged that he had inserted his fingers into her genitals while he was giving her a massage.

Despite being found guilty, however, and reportedly being listed on the National Register for Sex Offenders, Swarts was later elected as AFS president, which was not in line with ASA’s efforts in recent years to create a safe space for athletes within the sport.

Misled provincial members

According to ASA, Swarts had misled AFS members about “the gravity of the offence and its outcome” before he was elected as AFS president.

“ASA views the matter in a very serious light but is constrained to follow its disciplinary processes as stipulated in its constitution,” the federation said.

“Whilst the delay in dealing decisively with the matter is regrettable, ASA was constrained to embark on a consultative process with the various factions amongst the membership of AFS before taking a decision on how best to deal with the matter.”