Rangers issue apology to those affected by abuse in football
Rangers Football Club have apologised to anyone personally affected after a report into allegations of abuse within the sport was published.
The Scottish Football Association( sf a) last month released the final report of are view commissioned at the end of 2016 following an "unprecedented" number of allegations of non recent sexual abuse in the sport, mainly said to have occurred in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.
Survivors, some of whom waived their anonymity, described in the report how they were raped and sexually assaulted.
Rangers said they have taken some time to consider the report's findings and recommendations, and added it is time for Scottish football to learn from and take responsibility for mistakes made in the past.
The club said: "We are firmly committed to ensuring openness and transparency in relation to this issue and agree on the uninterrupted ethical obligation of clubs over time, irrespective of changes.
"We express our sincere sympathy to all individuals who have suffered abuse within the Scottish game and commend the bravery of all survivors who have come forward."
In the report a number of men told how they were abused by a coach, referred to as D, who worked at hutchison vale footballclub and later at hibernian and Rangers and died in 2014.
Rangers FC said: "With regard to the specific instances referred to, as the report states, these concerned one former employee. We note the report accepts that when former senior managers were provided with a direct allegation, this was taken seriously and dealt with promptly.
"The report commends the action taken and acknowledgesrangers have previously said publicly the matter was reported to the police at the time.
"Today, Rangers is at the fore front of child safety and well being in football.
"We believe it is a moral obligation to ensure that Scottish football is beyond rep roach and all safeguarding measures are strictly adhered to.
"We agree that it is time for all of Scottish football to learn from and take responsibility for mistakes made in the past. We fully acknowledge the impact of these events and the enduring effect on individual lives.
"We apologise to anyone person ally affected by abuse within Scottish football."
There view found that most of the young people who experienced the sexual abuse did not report it to anyone else at the time, and in the majority of cases no-one in Scottish football knew anything about it.
However it said this does not necessarily mean there was no "level of suspicion" among some in the game. The review said it is "encouraging" that the Scottish FA and its members have taken serious steps to deliver on many of the 95 recommendations for improvement in the interim report, which was published in 2018.
However it said it would be a "grave mistake" to believe sexual abuse in Scottish football is therefore a "historical" issue and the sexual abuse of children and young people is not something which can be easily "eradicated".
It added that culture change within football in Scotland is imperative.