Continuing homophobia within Scottish football is silencing child abuse victims, SFA warned

An independent report branded policies "inadequate" and called for a "significant and serious sea-change" in the culture of Scottish football to reduce the risk of abuse taking place.

• READ MORE: Scottish football's child abuse investigation finds policies are 'not fit for purpose'

The review panel, chaired by Martin Henry (below) noted "with serious concern" the role that homophobic attitudes and banter within the sport have played in "silencing" young men who may have experienced abuse and it criticised situations where footballers have been stigmatised because of mental ill-health.

"Culture change within football in Scotland is imperative," the review stated.

"This includes challenging negative and harmful attitudes to mental health and distorted thinking about sexual conduct and gender based violence; changing the widely held perception of 'men in blazers' controlling the delivery of the sport in Scotland; effectively and decisively challenging homophobic attitudes and behaviours which seriously reinforce the fears and silence of young men when faced with sexual abuse or exploitation."

The Scottish Football Association-commissioned report criticised a "lack of leadership and inadequate governance" when it comes to child protection and said the sport in Scotland urgently needs a comprehensive safeguarding strategy.

• READ MORE: Scottish football's child abuse investigation finds policies are 'not fit for purpose'

Scottish Football Association (SFA) chief executive Ian Maxwell apologised to people who had suffered abuse in the game.

The review said the findings should be considered a "line-in-the-sand" moment for football north of the border and issued nearly 100 recommendations for change.

The interim report stated: "The time for such change is overdue."

The SFA commissioned the review at the end of 2016 following an "unprecedented" number of allegations of non-recent sexual abuse in the sport, mainly said to have occurred in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

The review talked to 236 individuals. Some 22 people came forward with allegations of historical sexual abuse concerning 10 alleged abusers.

Allegations ranged from sexualised language and indecent assault to rape, the report noted.

The report found some progress has been made in relation to child protection issues in recent years but highlighted a number of areas for improvement.

• READ MORE: Scottish football's child abuse investigation finds policies are 'not fit for purpose'

It said that across three decades and beyond it was, and to a considerable extent is, the case that "a hyper-masculine and homophobic culture dominated the game at all levels".

The report said: "For teenage boys this was a real and active factor in how sexual abuse is construed by them and in their inability to tell anyone. Indeed, this has been almost universal in the experiences described to the review.

"The perception at the time of a significant number of those who spoke to the review was that same sex sexual abuse was somehow a facet of homosexual orientation or behaviour.

"In other words, at that time and in their early teenage years they believed (as probably did a large section of the population at that time) that men who abuse boys do so because they are gay.

• READ MORE: SFA chief says Scottish football is "a safe place for children" after critical report

"The corollary of this therefore is that, if others know of this, they will assume that the young man himself may have been complicit in what was happening to him and therefore himself may be gay.

"This is a complex issue but one which needs to be understood properly if we are to empower and support young men and to prevent sexual abuse especially in a sport dominated by men and preoccupations about masculinity."

The review heard repeated accounts which described the prevalence of banter within the sport "most of it homophobic, which only further escalated the anxieties and fears of these young men and contributed significantly" to their decision not to tell anyone of their experiences.

The report added: "It is the view of the Independent Review that to a very significant extent homophobic banter between peers and by adults in football reinforced fears in young men of sharing personal experiences and acted to bolster possibly risky behaviour by adults.

"Such banter and language not only therefore reflect a wider culture of continuing homophobia within the game but actively contributes to silencing young men – whether about experiences of sexual abuse (which is the main area of concern to this Review) or any experience or personal issue that the young man believes will be construed as ‘weak’ or not meeting the ‘norms’ of masculinity often so forcefully imposed by those engaged in sport."

• READ MORE: SFA appeals for child abuse victims to come forward 

The report calls for the SFA to improve its capacity to respond to allegations of non-recent sexual abuse and added: "The current structure of the Scottish FA and Scottish football is not fit for purpose in relation to the safeguarding of young people, clarity of accountability and the reduction of risk.

"An over-complex structure, lack of leadership and inadequate governance in relation to 'child protection' has also contributed to risk and general ineffectiveness...

"Scottish football urgently requires a comprehensive safeguarding strategy which involves the entire game beyond the governing body alone."

It spoke of a perception that the sport, played by almost 100,000 young people in Scotland, is dominated by "men in blazers".

The document is an interim report, with the final report being withheld until all relevant criminal proceedings are concluded.

It has however, completed its findings and made 96 recommendations, with all but one issued on Thursday.

Matt Forde of NSPCC Scotland said: "This is a disturbing insight into a flawed Scottish football system that has clearly been putting children at significant risk. That's got to change, without delay."