KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan officials issued an arrest warrant on Sunday for the powerful head of the nation’s soccer federation, Keramuddin Keram, on criminal charges accusing him of sexually abusing female soccer players, a day after FIFA barred him from the sport for life.

Mr. Keram would be the world’s most senior soccer official to be criminally charged with abusing female players. But it was not immediately clear if the Afghan police would be able to arrest Mr. Keram, a former warlord with many armed followers who previously refused to leave office even though the government had suspended him.

Nasrat Rahimi, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, said Mr. Karim would be arrested soon. “We will take action against him,” Mr. Rahimi said.

Mr. Keram is just one of many officials worldwide facing accusations of sexual harassment and rape after a series of scandals broke into the open while the Women’s World Cup is underway in France. Court proceedings were underway against three other Afghan soccer officials on sexual abuse charges, but they are cooperating and have not been arrested, according to Jamshid Rasooli, spokesman for the attorney general’s office.