If Fifa’s proposed multi-sport entity to deal with the crisis is to succeed it must be independent, transparent and well-funded
As a lawyer specialising in sport and human rights I receive more than 200 messages a week about abuse in football alone. Some messages are from players, some are from whistleblowers. Almost all express fear, frustration and anger about how the system is failing. It’s not just that the abuse was allowed to happen. It’s that when they alerted the powers that be, they were ignored, gaslighted or silenced.
Since 2016 I’ve worked with victims of abuse in sport across five continents. From England to Afghanistan, Argentina to Haiti, Canada to Gabon, football is being used intentionally by sexual predators as a vehicle to access, groom and abuse children and young adults. In all cases, someone knew that the abuse was taking place – often someone senior in football’s governing structures.
