Family fury at FA over Bellamy

THE families of the players who made bullying allegations against Craig Bellamy are frustrated by the Fa’s refusal to intervene after Cardiff City ignored their request for an independent investigation. The Fa say they are instead taking an overview and will allow the club to carry out an internal probe into the Under 18s boss, even though that is being headed by another academy coach. Dave Madden, whose son alfie claims he was bullied by Bellamy, told Sportsmail: ‘How bad do the allegations have to be before the Fa get involved? are they not bothered about bullying? ‘I don’t understand why the Fa allow clubs to carry out their own investigations. ‘We have raised what we feel are genuine concerns about the process of the club’s investigation and they are refusing to get involved.’ Those who brought the claims are still waiting to hear from Cardiff after submitting their evidence. They are concerned that Bellamy’s academy colleague Rob Cronick, the club’s head of safeguarding, continues to lead the investigation. Cronick, a former police chief, told Sportsmail in January that he would not be ‘compromised’ by his association with Bellamy. Three months on and Bellamy remains on leave. several players have provided evidence against the former Wales and Cardiff captain. But the Fa’s safeguarding team have told the families the nature of the complaints does not meet their threshold for immediate investigation and they will wait for the club’s findings. Bellamy denies the allegations of bullying and xenophobic behaviour towards academy players.