Child abuse scandal shakes up Great Britain’s soccer world
About 350 former football players, whose names have not yet been disclosed, admitted that they were the victims of sexual abuses in the soccer of the Great Britain, informs the BBC, quoting sources within the police. The number of cases is based on the investigations conducted by the police at the moment, but also on the over 860 calls that were made during the first week of the establishment of the telephone line dedicated to the victims of the sexual abuse from the English soccer. The telephone line was founded on November 23, by The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) with the financial support of the English Soccer Federation. Since the sexual abuse scandal started, 15 structures of the police from the territory of Great Britain also announced that they have in progress investigations relating to such cases. Also, the English Federation of Football revealed the fact that more clubs do internal investigations regarding this aspect.
The first one who admitted in public that he was sexually abused is Andy Woodward. He said that Barry Bennell, the ex-coach of the England’s Crewe Alexandra football club, abused him. Chris Unsworth, 44 years old, also said that he was sexually abused around 100 times. One of the last cases is of the former player of the Newcastle United team, David Eatock, now in the age of 40 years. He said in a televised show on the BBC that he was sexually abused in the period when he was between 18 and 21 years by the coach George Ormond. The scandal of sexual abuses whose victims were minor footballers represents one of the most serious crisis in the history of the English Soccer Federation. Until now, over 20 ex-players stated in public that they were sexually abused in their childhood.