their disregard for survivors of childhood sexual abuse within football and serious questions
Chris Tillman Womens Jersey have to be asked as to the reasons why these clubs have decided not to engage.” Advertisement
The last available figures, released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council on 18 April, showed 560 people had come forward citing abuse and 252 suspects had been named since the Guardian began its investigation in November. Around 23% of the reported incidents – with 311 clubs named – related to the sport at professional level and Operation Hydrant, the specialist police unit investigating the matter, had received 1,432 referrals, with almost a third, 457, coming from the north-west. The inquiry, which will also look into girls’ football, will examine any evidence of a possible network between the offenders.
Sheldon was appointed in December and one part of his investigation will be to examine the reasons why, in 2003, the FA withdrew its funding from a review of child-protection policies, two years into what was supposed to be a five-year project led by Celia Brackenridge, a prominent
http://www.officialoriolestore.com/Darren_Oday_Jerseycampaigner and researcher from Brunel University. Letters have also been sent to every club – a figure close to 20 – linked to the scandal in media coverage to establish if they are holding their own reviews and, if not, asking for the reasons why. Again, the relevant clubs – including Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Southampton, Aston Villa, Blackpool and Crewe Alexandra – have been asked to submit their evidence to help Sheldon’s own fact-finding mission, with a view to submitting his report to the FA early next year. The terms of reference state the FA will make public as much as is legally possible. Chelsea, the Guardian has established, have appointed a QC, Charles Geekie, a specialist in child abuse cases, to examine what happened at Stamford Bridge in the 1970s and the chain of events that led to the club paying one of their former players, Gary Johnson, ?50,000 hush money in an attempt to prevent publicity about what happened to him in their youth team. Chelsea admitted in December they now considered that confidentiality agreement to be “inappropriate” and issued a public apology about the way the club had handled the allegations relating to Eddie Heath, formerly their chief scout. Manchester City, facing the possibility of civil action from a number of their former junior players, have started their own investigation, using two of Manchester’s leading
Randy Jones Youth Jersey law firms as well as appointing Jane Mulcahy, a London-based QC who is on the national child safeguarding in sport panel and has been involved with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s appeals panel in child-protection cases. Advertisement The next stage of Sheldon’s inquiry will last several months and be devoted to interviewing the survivors and key witnesses. He and his team have received professional training to ensure the process is handled delicately and there will be the opportunity for people to speak anonymously, with an introductory link on the Sport Resolutions website. Mike Hartill, a senior lecturer in sociology and sport at Edge Hill University who has previously been credited with improving child-protection policies in rugby league, is liaising with Sheldon and has produced a report for the inquiry to detail the measures that used to exist in football. The inquiry team has been interviewing various members of staff from previous FA regimes, as well as gathering evidence from a variety
http://www.officialpadrestore.com/Rickey_Henderson_Jersey of other sources, but has also had to devote a significant amount of time to looking for relevant information from among the 5,000 boxes of FA archives.��
As disappointing as it has been that almost one out of every 11 professional clubs has missed the various deadlines, that does not reflect the attitudes of the people who have been asked to take part in interviews. Everybody so far has agreed and it is hoped the FA’s involvement may influence the eight clubs who have let down the process so far
