Clubs’ poor protection policies failed youth players
Children’s charities yesterday warned young footballers have not been properly protected by their clubs or the sports authorities.
Joanna Barrett, policy manager at NSPCC Scotland, said yesterday: “Many children have been badly let down by Scottish football’s child protection policies in the past.
“It is vital these individuals are encouraged to come forward and that all allegations of child abuse are thoroughly investigated.
“It is also right that the SFA has recognised the need for radical transformation in the game’s safeguarding and has begun to address this.” A helpline set up by the NSPCC in December 2016, for victims of abuse in UK football, received 1,700 calls within three weeks of its launch.
Mary Glasgow, chief executive of Children 1st, Scotland’s national children’s charity, said: “In football, as in wider society, countless children have been let down by past failures to stop abuse, challenge the signs of it and support survivors’ recovery. “Organisations and institutions need to be honest about the mistakes of the past, make addressing them their top priority and be open about the steps they are taking to keep children safer.” Sharon Delshaw, co-chief executive of Break the Silence, which helps victims of abuse in Ayrshire, said she was not surprised by the scale of abuse uncovered in our probe.
She said: “We have been approached for help by men who have been abused by coaches and others who worked with children’s clubs. “They were abused in clubs at all levels wherever children played football. Abuse in football is much more extensive than previously thought and is happening at all levels.”