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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Football sex abuse: Met Police launches investigation

5:00 AM Bilal Muazin No comments

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The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into allegations of historical sexual abuse in football at clubs in London.

A dedicated team of officers from the Met's sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command will work alongside Operation Hydrant.

Hundreds of people have reported abuse to UK police so far, the National Police Chief's Council said.

The Met is not discussing the number of allegations or the clubs involved.

Det Ch Supt Ivan Balhatchet from the Met said the force takes allegations seriously and they "will be dealt with sensitively".

"Anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, whatever the circumstances, or has any relevant information, should contact their local police or the NSPCC," he added.

Football clubs across the UK have been implicated in a growing number of child sex abuse allegations.

Child sex abuse claims - story so far

The Met's announcement comes as the Football Association has been criticised for "dismissing" concerns about sexual abuse in football when they emerged in the 1990s.

A dedicated football abuse hotline set up by the NSPCC received more than 860 calls since it was set up about two weeks ago.

The phone line is available 24 hours a day on 0800 023 2642.

Police forces investigating allegations:

North Wales
North Yorkshire
Dorset
Staffordshire
Greater Manchester
Cambridgeshire
Hampshire
Cheshire
Northumbria
Metropolitan
Police Scotland
Avon and Somerset
Essex
Norfolk
Derbyshire
Warwickshire
Devon and Cornwall
South Wales
Dyfed-Powys
PSNI

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Metropolitan police to investigate sexual abuse claims at London clubs | Football

12:30 PM Bilal Muazin No comments

Britainâ€™s largest police force has launched an investigation into sex abuse claims involving London football clubs.

The Metropolitan police said a team of specialist officers from its sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command would probe allegations of â€œnon-recentâ€ crimes â€" but refused to say which clubs it was investigating.

â€œWe take all the allegations we receive very seriously and they will be dealt with sensitively,â€ said DCS Ivan Balhatchet, who is part of the Metâ€™s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command. â€œAnyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, whatever the circumstances, or has any relevant information should contact their local police or the NSPCC.â€

Football sex abuse scandal: how the story unfolded

The Met are the 22nd police force to investigate historical claims of sexual abuse in football, joining: Devon and Cornwall, Warwickshire, Avon and Somerset, Essex, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Dorset, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, North Wales, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cheshire, West Midlands, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys, Scotland Yard, Police Scotland, Northumbria Police, Derbyshire Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

More than 20 former footballers â€" including ex-youth players, trainees and professionals â€" have also come forward with allegations of abuse since former Crewe defender Andy Woodward waived his right to anonymity to say he was a victim of sexual abuse in an interview with the Guardian.

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Metropolitan police to investigate sex abuse claims at London clubs | Football

5:30 AM Bilal Muazin No comments

Britainâ€™s largest police force has launched an investigation into sex abuse claims involving London football clubs.

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FIFA boss Infantino wants â€˜zero toleranceâ€™ of sex abuse in football â€” RT Sport

6:00 AM Bilal Muazin No comments

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says there needs to be "zero tolerance" of child abuse in football, promising to investigate how the sport's governing body can prevent it happening.

English football has been rocked by a scandal over accusations of historical pedophile activity within the game, with police forces across the country dealing with an increasing number of claims.

Football clubs warned by governing body about alleged child abuser back in 1989

With the English Football Association (FA) also launching a review into the allegations, Infantino has insisted football must act swiftly to handle the issue.

"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," Infantino told reporters in Singapore on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

"Those who have been guilty of abusing children need to 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.â€

Police forces in at least 18 areas across Britain are currently investigating allegations made by 350 victims, with some cases dating back to the 1980s.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has received around 1,000 reports to a telephone hotline, with Premier League clubs Southampton and Chelsea among those linked to the scandal.

Details about possible widespread abuse first came to light last month, when former Crewe Alexandra player Andy Woodward came forward to detail his abuse at the hands of pedophile former coach Barry Bennell.

The 62-year-old was charged at the end of November with eight offenses of sexual assault against a boy and is due to appear at South Cheshire Magistrates' Court on December 14.

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Friday, December 9, 2016

UK football sex abuse: 83 suspects and 98 clubs involved in inquiry

5:30 AM Bilal Muazin No comments

Story highlights

83 suspects in UK sex abuse case
98 soccer clubs involved in investigation

The investigation involves all levels of football, from top-level clubs to amateur teams.

Follow @cnnsport

Police forces across the UK continue to receive calls from victims and people offering information. In total, 639 referrals have been received from both the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) helpline and police forces.

Read: Chelsea FC accused of paying child sex abuse victim to keep quiet

Of the victims identified so far, 98% are male and their ages range from seven to 20.

Read: Hundreds come forward to police in sex abuse inquiry

"Allegations received by police forces across the country are being swiftly acted upon," said Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the NPCC's lead for Child Protection.

The investigation began when former professional footballer Andy Woodward became the first to publicly tell his story in November.

Visit cnn.com/football for more news and videos

Fellow lower-league player Steve Walters and ex-England internationals Paul Stewart and David White also came forward soon after, before a hotline was set up for people who were sexually abused while playing football in Britain.

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UK football sex abuse: 83 suspects and 98 clubs involved in inquiry

6:30 AM Bilal Muazin No comments

Story highlights

83 suspects in UK sex abuse case
98 soccer clubs involved in investigation

The investigation involves all levels of football, from top-level clubs to amateur teams.

Follow @cnnsport

Read: Chelsea FC accused of paying child sex abuse victim to keep quiet

Of the victims identified so far, 98% are male and their ages range from seven to 20.

Read: Hundreds come forward to police in sex abuse inquiry

"Allegations received by police forces across the country are being swiftly acted upon," said Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the NPCC's lead for Child Protection.

The investigation began when former professional footballer Andy Woodward became the first to publicly tell his story in November.

Visit cnn.com/football for more news and videos

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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Metropolitan police to investigate sexual abuse claims at London clubs | Football

3:30 PM Bilal Muazin No comments

The Metropolitan police has launched an investigation into historical sexual abuse claims involving London football clubs, becoming the 21st force across the country to have begun similar inquiries into teams in their areas.

Britainâ€™s largest police force said specialist officers would look into allegations of â€œnon-recentâ€ crimes, but refused to say which clubs it was investigating.

â€œWe take all the allegations we receive very seriously and they will be dealt with sensitively,â€ said DCS Ivan Balhatchet of the Metâ€™s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command. â€œAnyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, whatever the circumstances, or has any relevant information should contact their local police or the NSPCC.â€

Football sex abuse scandal: how the story unfolded

According to police, more than 350 potential victims have come forward since the former Crewe defender Andy Woodward waived his right to anonymity to reveal in an interview with the Guardian that he had been a Âvictim of sexual abuse

Gary Johnson, the former player who was paid Â£50,000 by Chelsea not to go public with allegations that he was abused by their former chief scout Eddie Heath, has said that a personal apology from the clubâ€™s board, delivered in person on Wednesday, was â€œtoo little, too lateâ€.

Johnson was a member of Chelseaâ€™s first team from 1978 to 1981 after joining the club as an 11-year-old in 1970. The 57-year-old spoke out recently to say he was groomed from the age of 13 by Heath, who was chief scout from 1968 to 1979 and is now dead. Chelseaâ€™s insurers paid Â£50,000 in compensation, without liability, in return for a confidentiality clause.

Johnson told the BBC that the Â£50,000 he received was â€œnot enough for the pain and suffering Iâ€™ve hadâ€, adding: â€œIt [the abuse] took away my childhood â€" I can never get that back.â€

In Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon resisted calls for the inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Scotland to be widened to include football clubs, after the Scottish Labour leader, Kezia ÂDugdale, pressed her during first ministerâ€™s Âquestions about revelations of abuse in Scottish clubs.

The first minister said: â€œMy view is we should allow that inquiry to get on with its job and we should allow the police to get on with their job of investigating allegations of abuse in football.â€

Earlier, a former chief Âexecutive of the Scottish Football Association called for a separate inquiry as the revelÂations across the UK continued to mount. Gordon Smith told BBC Radioâ€™s Good Morning Scotland that an investigation into how clubs and national bodies had responded to allegations was needed.

â€œThere should be an inquiry, an inquiry into anybody who knew anything about this sort of thing,â€ he said. â€œIf this was happening at a club, what action did they take? Weâ€™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.â€

The SFA has said it is part of a task force set up to coordinate complaints and information relating to child sexual abuse within football and that it is passing on all information it receives to Police Scotland.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Premiership club Patrick Thistle have admitted firing one of their employees in 1992 over abuse claims. The club disclosed that a former physiotherapist, named as John Hart, who died in 1995, was dismissed after the allegations came to light more than 20 years ago.

In a statement, the club denied any cover-up, stating: â€œThe current board and management knew nothing of this until an internal investigation uncovered it in the last few days. As a result, the club informed the SFA and Police Scotland.â€

This follows revelations concerning a former youth coach for Celtic, Hibernian and Falkirk football clubs, who was on Wednesday charged with a child sex offence and has been remanded in custody.

Jim McCafferty, who worked in football across the central belt of Scotland and in Ireland from the 1980s, was arrested in Belfast on Tuesday after presenting himself at a police station. He was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child aged 13-16 between December 2011 and December 2014.

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