A senior Richmond FC soccer coach, who once played in a top European professional final, has appeared in court in connection with on-field complaints.
Roberto Sciascia, the club’s staff technical director, made an appearance at a show-cause hearing at Richmond Provincial Court on Jan. 16. Although Sciascia, 54, was released with conditions, he has not been charged with any offence and none of the allegations have been tested in court. Many of the details are subject to a publication ban.
BC Soccer, the game’s ruling body in the province, is aware of the complaints and is monitoring the situation closely.
Its executive director, Paul Mullen, said coach’s behaviour is expected to be consistently of a high standard, before pointing out that the accusations against Sciascia have not been proven.
It’s understood that Richmond FC is carrying out an investigation, but BC Soccer could become involved if an appeal was filed at any stage.
It’s not clear from Richmond FC whether Sciascia still holds a paid coaching role at the club, which posted Jan. 20 on its website a vacancy for a technical director.
Sciascia has been coaching metro-select youth soccer at Richmond FC (formerly Richmond Youth Soccer) since 2007. He played for top European teams and in 1982 played in European final against Barcelona.
