Sex abuse inquiry: English football failed children for 35 years

‘Significant institutional failings for which there is no excuse’, says review commissioned by the English Football Association.

English football did not do enough to protect children from paedophile coaches in an “institutional failure” by the game’s governing body, an inquiry into sexual abuse up from 1970 to 2005 has found. The English Football Association-commissioned independent review said there were at least 692 abuse survivors and 240 suspects in a 710-page report that catalogued failings by eight clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester City, to act on concerns about eight of the most prolific perpetrators of male sexual abuse in the sport. The inquiry led by lawyer Clive Sheldon was sparked by a wave of media testimonies of survivors of abuse in 2016, including victims of Barry Bennell, a former youth talent scout for Manchester City.