Football abuse review reaches ‘crucial stage’
A REVIEW into historic incidents of abuse in Scottish football is ready to begin the “crucial yet sensitive” stage of information-gathering.
Preparatory work has been concluded for the review, which has been commissioned by the Scottish Football Association and is chaired by Martin Henry.
The sport has been rocked by claims from former players across the UK that they were abused by people in positions of authority.
Police Scotland is investigating 130 reports of child sexual abuse in football.
The other members of the review team are Ruth Sills, development manager of Children 1st, Mark Cooper, a retired detective superintendent with Police Scotland, and Bruce Nicol, an occupational psychologist with extensive experience in business management.
Mr Henry said: “We have now concluded the preparatory work for our review, which has incorporated the confirmation of our administrative process, the completion of a scoping exercise, as well as assigning roles and responsibilities for the team.
“We now approach the crucial yet sensitive stage of information-gathering.
“I would like to call on all relevant stakeholders within Scottish football to give their full and unencumbered co-operation to this part of the review, in order that we can establish as full a picture as possible.
“We also wish to ensure that survivors are given as much support as possible and, in this regard, I would like to thank the Scottish FA for its work through the Children’s Wellbeing department and with other partner agencies.
“We anticipate this stage taking place throughout the summer, with a view to evaluation of evidence and the writing of the report commencing in late autumn.”
The review team intends to present the final report to the board of the SFA and publish in full in early 2018.
Mr Henry added: “I cannot stress enough the importance of taking the appropriate time and consideration to provide a meaningful review, to learn lessons from the past, but also to provide recommendations to ensure Scottish football is at the forefront of children’s wellbeing and protection now and in the future.
“The independent review team will work tirelessly on behalf of every survivor to achieve that aim.”