Fifa chief calls for zero tolerance
FIFA chief calls for zero tolerance on child abuse
FIFA president Gianni Infantino last night reacted to the child abuse scandal engulfing the British game and pledged world football’s governing body want to see a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to the issue.
The intervention of one of football’s most powerful men came on a day when it emerged that:
THE Offside Trust, set up by victims in the wake of the scandal, had received numerous calls from Scotland.
THERE were claims that a coach implicated in the scandal in Scotland had taken young players to England, where he greeted paedophile Crewe coach Barry Bennell ‘like a long-lost brother’.
A FORMER Celtic and Hibs coach charged with a child sex offence in Northern Ireland has asked to be remanded in custody for his own safety.
FORMER SFA chief executive Gordon Smith called on Scottish football’s authorities to launch an independent inquiry to mirror that being run in England.
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected calls for an existing inquiry into the abuse of children in care to be widened to include football clubs.
Infantino has promised to look into ways FIFA can do more to clamp down on those who prey on aspiring child footballers and said: ‘It has to be taken seriously.
‘There must be zero tolerance from that point of view, from a football perspective, but also from a criminal perspective as well.
‘Those who have been guilty of abusing children need to be punished very seriously. They have to be out of football, that is without question, but also on the criminal side they need to be punished.
‘There are not many worse things in life, not
in football life, but in life generally, than child abuse.
‘The (English) Football Association is already, of course, looking into that matter and this is something that has to be taken very seriously.
‘In football as well, we probably have to look into that with more care and more attention in order to prevent any potential child abuse in the future.’
This week, former Celtic, Falkirk and Hibernian kitman Jim McCafferty, 71, was arrested and charged in Belfast over child sex offences.
He appeared in court yesterday where his defence solicitor revealed he had been instructed by his client not to apply for bail in connection with the alleged offence, adding that there was a safety issue in the case.
Earlier this week, Police Scotland confirmed they are investigating a report of sexual abuse in the 1980s, believed to involve former Hibs coach Gordon Neely.
Neely, who died two years ago aged 62, was fired by Rangers in 1990 following an accusation of inappropriate behaviour.
There have also been allegations linking Neely to Bennell, who was last week charged in England with several counts of sexual assault against a teenage boy.
Last night, former Manchester City youth player Jason Dunford, who was coached by Bennell, told STV that Neely brought a team from Edinburgh down to play in Manchester.
‘We were coached by Barry Bennell and the relationship between Barry and Gordon Neely at the time was very, very close,’ he said. ‘Basically like two lost, long, lost friends. Like long, lost brothers.
‘A lot of Scottish boys stayed with Bennell after Bennell had asked for them to come down to be trialled. Whether that was a legitimate reason, who knows, but I think there’s a lot of boys in Scotland, know, for sure, what happened.’
Dunford, a member of The Offside Trust, added: ‘We have had lots of phone calls in Scotland. Anonymous calls. And we are dealing with, on a daily basis, with a lot more than we expected, of young boys who were affected, abused and assaulted by what we consider is a paedophile ring going around the UK.’
On Monday, Scottish FA chief Stewart Regan issued an apology for the past failures of the organisation after a former youth coach and ex-top flight assistant referee Hugh Stevenson — who died in 2004 — was accused of a catalogue of child sex offences.
Pete Haynes, 50, reported the allegations against Stevenson to the police and the SFA in the 1990s, but was never told of any outcome to their investigations. Instead, by way of an apology, Haynes says he was offered a tour of the SFA’s Park Gardens headquarters.
It also emerged that former Partick Thistle physiotherapist John Hart was sacked after being accused of child sex abuse in 1992. A lack of police involvement meant Hart was able to continue working at his own private practice, even after the Firhill outfit dismissed him.
The Scottish FA, in conjunction with Police Scotland, PFA Scotland the NSPCC have established a ‘task force’ to deal with the allegations that have surfaced — and those yet to reach the public domain.
Scottish First Minister Sturgeon yesterday rejected calls for the existing inquiry into the abuse of children in care to be widened to include football clubs.
But former SFA chief executive Smith believes a full independent inquiry, covering the offenders, victims and those who could have stopped the abuse, is required.
He said: ‘There should be an inquiry into anybody who knew anything about this sort of thing.
‘If this was happening at a club, what action did they take? We’re now finding out some of the cases down in England where the club tried to hush the situation, even paid a player money to not say anything about it.
‘The people who committed the offences are a disgrace and, hopefully, they’re going to be found out legally and charged.
‘There’s the kids who suffered from it who are now adults who obviously got great psychological and traumatic effects from it.
‘The third element is the people who maybe knew something about this going on and didn’t do anything about it. Although they’re maybe not legally culpable they’re certainly morally culpable because they didn’t do anything about it.’
The scandal first broke in England when former Crewe player Andy Woodward bravely waived his right of anonymity to reveal the fact he suffered years of abuse at the hands of former youth coach Bennell.
A flood of other former football players then came forward to share similar stories.
And Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Tam Baillie, has warned the scandal may not be confined to football and could spread across other Scottish sports.
Yesterday, double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes admitted she is sure allegations of child sex abuse will soon start emerging in other sports.
The 46-year-old, who won gold at 800metres and 1,500m at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said: ‘I absolutely believe it’s going to come out, probably in swimming, gymnastics, athletics.
‘Because you hear those things done in the past, and I’ve heard of people that have said it.
‘Since this all came out to light, other people are now talking. I don’t think this is a closed door at the moment.’