What’s the story?
Manchester United legend David Beckham spoke about the recent child sexual abuse scandal in football and revealed that none of those incidents took place when he was with the Red Devils.
The former England international came up through the ranks of the club’s youth system before breaking into the first team. He brought an end to his time at Old Trafford in 2003 and moved to Real Madrid.
"It's disgraceful what's gone on and there has to be something done about it. But there was never anything at Manchester United,” Beckham told the BBC. "The closest [thing to abuse] would've been certain professionals. If we'd gone out of line they'd make us do a funny dance in the middle of the changing room in front of our heroes at the time.
"[It was] humiliation, and that was all it was, but that was just to teach us a lesson, there was never any wrongdoing. I'd like to believe the FA are doing everything they can to find out about the allegations. The more these ex-professionals voice their opinions, that's when there will be change. I would like to think the clubs are all on board with this," he added.
In case you didn’t know...
The ongoing child sexual abuse fiasco came into the limelight when current and former professional footballers began to talk about the instances when they were abused by former football coaches in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Initial allegations surfaced when Barry Bennell, who was associated with Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra, was charged with eight offences of sexual assault against a teenage boy. Bennell was previously convicted of sexual abuse in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
The heart of the matter
Chelsea’s former scout Eddie Heath and former Newcastle United coach George Ormond were also in hot water as it was reported that both clubs tried to cover up the scandal.
Beckham revealed that he was not abused as a child at United, but he and a few of his former teammates were humiliated in front of their heroes in the dressing room. These incidents took place whenever the younger players were involved in any wrongdoing.
What’s next?
The former AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder remained hopeful that English clubs will come together to curb child abuse in football and urged the Football Association (FA) to do their best to eliminate this from the game.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The clubs need to take serious measures to in order to make the game pure again. Should they decide to cover up any reported incident without taking proper action, it could cause serious mental stress and strain on young footballers in their youth.
