Football’s darker side. How the offenders can attack the complainant

 

 

• Transfers 25 August: 73 players cominig to Arsenal, 30 players leaving
• Highlights and the last time Arsenal won their first three league games….

By Tony Attwood

If there is one issue that football doesn’t want to talk about because it is just too awkward, it is abuse of youngsters within clubs.   When there have been reports it has been about child sex abuse, but the abuse of teenagers by playing them when they are not fit because the club is short of a player in that position, is something that is now simply hidden away.

And it is hidden because at the most obvious level – the question of to whom one should report the abuse – there is no obvious answer.    It would seem that the police don’t want to know because they won’t classify the playing of a youngster when he shouldn’t be played either as abuse or as a crime.   And it would seem that until a parent does bring a successful complaint against a club for such activity that will continue.  

Worse, a parent who goes to the police more than once may be put down on their books as a “vexatious complainant” and thus a person who will not be put through on the phone to the right department, and whose letters will not be answered.

Worse again in such cases, it would seem that as these cases are reported, the police may on occasion not even ask to see the evidence.   Complain to the police about a club’s behaviour over a 15 year old, and if sex is not involved, they will say “not one for us”.

Indeed it seems that the police will not even investigate the alleged destruction of medical records without there being a copy kept.   And worse again, it is not unknown for the lawyers who are known for investigating cases against clubs to become advisers or even board members of clubs, meaning that they cann’t take on the case, and other local firms might not be willing to take on their big brothers.

Of course my conclusions in such matters are based on hearsay, and I can’t prove these points – but what worries me is that they are circulating but no one in the media (who obviously have much more in the way of resources than Untold Arsenal) will take up the matter.  It is as if (and I can’t prove this) the clubs are saying to the media “run that story and you and your employers will not be welcome here any more.” and the media listen.

Of course the police can use the excuse that they are overloaded with work, and we know that the police are very short staffed.  A BBC report in June this year stated that “The Metropolitan Police is heading for its lowest staffing levels in a decade by March next year, commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned.”

The BBC put this down to “inadequate funding and low recruitment” quoting Sir Mar again as the source.   With the image of footballers, even young footballers, being paid salaries that the average policeman can only dream of, it is not surprising that they will not make investigations into child abuse by clubs a priority.  Especially if the club is warning the police off.

And we can’t even hope that the change of government will help improve police finances as the BBC report recently announced that, “Plans to reform the force will have to slow down as the Met faces a budget hole of £400m in 2025-26, a document submitted to the London Policing Board said.”

The Home Office is denying this – although only by promising jam tomorrow and with dubious stats.  They are saying that the Met “will receive up to £3.5bn in 2024-25, an increase of up to £125.8m on the previous year.”  And that is dubious because first it only relates to the Metropolitan police and child abuse in football clubs is not just confined to London.  And second because that increase will simply be restoring some of the funding that was cut the previous year (and is “up to”).  It’s not a real increase at all – even if it does happen and isn’t itself cut because of some other issue the government has suddenly found.

In effect though it is not the police who make all the decisions, for when they say they won’t investigate the destruction of medical records this is normally because their lawyers say no.  As I have noted before the way around this is to have a legal requirement for all medical incidents at a football club to be recorded by themselves and then also copied onto a master server at the FA.  Spot checks can then be arranged that this is being done, and parents can ask the FA to check that a report has made its way onto the master file.

This copying to a master file is what businesses do all the time, so that there are backups of vital information, but football with injuries to under 16s?  No chance.

Thus as things stand clubs still have a way out of destroying the evidence about the abuse of a child by playing him aged under 16 when injured, and then intimidating the complaint for making what they say are “false allegations.”  Clubs then bring lawyers on the board to protect clubs against any allegations.

Meanwhile, the local MP is often disinclined to investigate since she/he will most likely to wined and dined by the club that itself is asking for help or special treatment because of its financial losses.  And with the League and the FA able to pass things to each other, it seems nothing is being done.  It’s really not a very good system.