A new scandal of sexual abuse in football has been revealed by journalists Romain Molina and Ed Aarons in the very serious Guardian.
“The alleged victims claim that Patrick Assoumou Eyi – known as “Capello” – abused boys in his former role as head coach of the Gabonese Under-17 team and in his current role as technical director of the League of the Estuary, the highest league in the country“, can we read in The Guardian.
“Some victims claimed that Eyi also provided boys to other football figures to abuse them“, ajoute The Guardian.
British media reports that the players’ union, Fifpro, has filed a complaint with FIFA over the allegations of sexual abuse. “Our preliminary inquiries have provided consistent evidence from credible witnesses who all speak of an ongoing and entrenched practice of forcing young players to have sex as a prerequisite for football opportunities.“said the union.
“If these allegations are indeed true, it is further proof that football is constantly exploited, across leagues and continents, as a forum for attackers to access, prepare, extort and assault players. . More needs to be done to prevent these horrific abuses and we call on football’s governing bodies to act urgently“, adds Fifpro.
Several alleged victims spoke to the Guardian. An alleged victim who played for the Gabonese Under-17 team between 2015 and 2017 claimed to have been assaulted on several occasions by the coach during his career with the national team. “He forced me to have sex with him“said the player.”It was the condition to stay in the national team. At the time, I left my village to help my family. I lived in the capital [Libreville] and becoming a professional footballer was the only way out of poverty. So I did what I had to do to help them.”
He added : “Capello raped so many boys. He sometimes went to the country to find new ones. He took advantage of poverty and also gave a few boys to other officials. In our national team, the majority had to make love. It has been the reality of Gabonese football for decades, but no one can stop the system. There are too many predators … we went through hell.”
Following these revelations, the Gabonese government asked the courts to open an investigation, calling the case “very serious“. President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba instructed the Minister of Sports”to seize the Minister of Justice for the opening of an investigation in the community of national football for sexual abuses having been committed against children, boys and girls“, but also “extend the survey to all national sports federations” for “eradicate potential sexual predators“.
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