The distress faced by survivors of sexual abuse in Scottish football is being compounded by delays to a review of paedophilia within the sport, MSPs have claimed. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) commissioned an independent report into sexual abuse which was due to be released in 2018. A...
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The distress faced by survivors of sexual abuse in Scottish football is being compounded by delays to a review of paedophilia within the sport, MSPs have claimed.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) commissioned an
independent report into sexual abuse which was due to be released in 2018. A draft was published that year but the final version with victim testimony has been held back several times, prompting anger from those who gave evidence.
Fulton MacGregor, the convener of Holyrood’s cross-party group on the future of football in Scotland, said that he had raised the issue with Ian Maxwell, the SFA chief executive.
“This continued delay is a major concern for many survivors, no doubt causing additional anxiety and distress,” he said. “I wrote to the SFA last week to ask when they expect the report to be published and I am awaiting a response. I hope the publication date issue can be quickly resolved so the report can be made public at the earliest opportunity.”
Mr MacGregor, the SNP MSP for Coatbridge & Chryston, a former social worker, added: “Perhaps then victims can find some closure to the dreadful and traumatic experiences they endured while in football.”
Johann Lamont, the former Scottish Labour leader and co-convener of the cross-party group of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, said that she was “gravely concerned” by the failure to publish the report.
She said: “Clearly this report will include important recommendations for action. The SFA must make a firm commitment not just to publish but to provide a deadline by which that commitment will be delivered.”
Last month Martin Henry, chairman of the Independent Review into Sexual Abuse in Scottish Football, said he had handed over his final report to the SFA in the summer and had been assured it would be made public by the end of September. “It is up to them to comment on why it hasn’t been released,” he said.
The report was originally delayed to allow court cases linked to historic sexual abuse in football to be completed. More recently survivors have been told that its release has been held back because of the pandemic.
Victims and their representatives have suggested that the SFA and other prominent Scottish football institutions are looking to sideline a report that will highlight their historic failures — and could have consequences for scores of legal cases.
Patrick McGuire, a partner with Thompsons solicitors, which is representing six people who were abused by SFA officials and dozens more who were attacked while playing for senior and junior clubs, said: “The continued delays and excuses by the SFA for not publishing their own report into historic child abuse in Scottish football are simply inexcusable.
“It is deeply upsetting and disrespectful to the many survivors who went through the harrowing process of giving evidence to the inquiry. “This was the inquiry the SFA never wanted to hold and now it’s the report they simply don’t want to release.”
The SFA said that it hoped to release the document this month. A spokesman said: “The Scottish Football Association is equally keen to publish the report and hopes to do so as soon as possible.”
