Bellamy apology? It’s like he was sticking two fingers up at us
PARENTS DEMAND TO SEE CARDIFF BULLYING PROBE
THE families of teenage players who raised claims of bullying against Craig Bellamy have labelled his apology ‘disingenuous’.
now they are demanding to see the findings of Cardiff’s investigation to understand why the Fa are not taking further action.
They want to know why the Fa have not opened their own probe after Cardiff confirmed academy players had been subjected to an ‘ unacceptable coaching environment’.
Parents of the boys say they will not rest until they see the full outcome of the allegations made against Bellamy and other academy coaches.
Bellamy, who is now coaching anderlecht’s youth team, issued an apology last week but has caused anger among his accusers by referencing the ‘sensitivities of a new generation of players’.
dave Madden played in the 1990 Fa Cup final for Crystal Palace and his son alfie was among those who claim to have been bullied by Bellamy.
He told Sportsmail: ‘Bellamy’s “apology” was shocking. He tried to put the blame back on the players by talking about their generation. It felt like he was calling them snowflakes. Bullying is not a generational thing, it’s just bullying. I played in the 1980s under some tough coaches but I was never bullied, I was never verbally or mentally abused. ‘ There is a big difference between being cruel to be kind and just cruel. none of us are happy with his statement, or the fact Cardiff City have not been in touch with us directly to apologise. and what about the Fa? How serious does it have to be for them to take ownership of this and get involved?
‘are anderlecht concerned about the findings? Bellamy is working with their young players now. surely they must want to know exactly what Cardiff ’ s investigation discovered?’
anderlecht did not respond when contacted.
another father whose son gave evidence during the investigation told Sportsmail: ‘Bellamy’s apology felt disingenuous. Myself, my son and my wife did not believe a word of it. The whole thing was a load of nonsense.
‘It felt like he was sticking two fingers up at us by saying he would not be subject to disciplinary proceedings. My son went through hell at that academy.
‘My feeling is the club have made it look as if they’re doing the right thing, but I want to know if they’ve gone far enough.
‘They have admitted that the coaching environment was unacceptable, but have they looked at the role of those on whose watch this occurred?’
Bellamy left Cardiff in June after standing down as Under 18s boss in January while the club investigated allegations revealed by
Sportsmail. Cardiff’s head of safeguarding Rob Cronick, a former police chief, was tasked with gathering evidence by chairman Mehmet dalman and chief executive Ken Choo. at the time he promised families the investigation would be ‘ professional, effective and with integrity’.
Cardiff released a statement last week saying the 10-month probe had found ‘significant concerns’ with regards to coaching of young players and ‘regretted the impact this has had’, admitting to failings when it came to safeguarding. The report did not name any individual specifically.
However, club sources say they could not take disciplinary action against Bellamy in any event because he is no longer employed by them and any decision on further action would rest with the Fa. Bellamy has always denied the allegations.
Cardiff say the report remains confidential because disciplinary action against current academy employees is ongoing. But Madden said: ‘We want full disclosure of the report. We want to know exactly what they found to see if our boys were justified in coming forward.
‘These were serious allegations about mental abuse, about boys coming home and locking themselves in their bedrooms.
‘We came forward to get justice for our boys and to prevent this happening to others. at the moment, we have not got that.’ THE Fa have asked to be kept informed by Burnley about the club’s investigation — reported by
Sportsmail yesterday — into Under 23 coach steve stone, who is accused of bullying.