By Tim Parsons
The football association will meet on Wednesday to discuss the full scale of sexual abuse that former players were subjected to.
The meeting aims to put measures in place to prevent a repetition of such unacceptable levels of abuse that sadly takes place in some sports.
The meeting comes in the wake of revelations from David White, Andy Woodland, Steve Walters, and Paul Stewart that they were regularly abused by coaches in their early years in football by respective coaches.
Ex Crème player, Woodland sparked the wider investigation after he reported abuse by Crème coach and football scout, Barry Bennell. Bennel was eventually convicted for the sexual abuse. The football association are clearly taking the other allegations very seriously, and recognise the damage it does to their reputation as an organisation. Serious and adequate measures are required to safeguard the next generation from being open to similar abuse in the future.
Football aspirants often join clubs with the ambition that it will land them in the premiere league where they can earn big bucks and also potentially get to represent England. It is a very competitive race, youngsters sometimes feeling under pressure to yield to anything that would accelerate their life long dreams and make them the envy of millions. The football association never intended recruitment to be like this, and it puts them in a very difficult position. The football association has been rocked by many knocks and many scandals, they want a break.
However, they only break they can have is during half time in a match when they can reflect on the events in a game. Scandal seems to always be at the tail of the football association, even when brought upon them by other big players in the game. It needs to be stopped, it needs to be reversed. Sexual abuse ruins lives, and the football association must do everything in their power to detect coaches with the tendency for sexual abuse. It is assumed that all coaches are police checked, but even attitudes of coaches in terms of their sexual jokes should also meet consternation by the football association whenever it comes to their attention.
Sexual manipulation has and will always be the way of some bosses. They use their quest for power and maximum sexual gratification as a weapon when recruiting aspiring youngsters with talent or who believe they have talent. Too often, the youngsters are too scared or ashamed to report the abuse because they consider themselves to be potential victims of any such complaint. Instead, as unwilling parties, they give up their bodies for the sexual exploration of these perverse chiefs who are morally degenerated and generally go about their vile schemes without detection.
Young footballers must resist those type of manipulations, but the desire and ambition to get to achieve their sporting dreams many times takes over. The culprits of this disgusting and selfish acts of abuse would promise them the world if they comply with their sexual proposals. Aspiring young footballers who know the coaches have the connections to stir their careers in the right direction, then give in just to get the favouritism they are promised. What they never account for during their shameful deal is the psychological trauma it could easily cause them in later life.