LONDON — Britain
is shuddering from the revelation of yet another child sexual abuse
scandal. What has shocked the nation even more profoundly this time is
that it happened in soccer: the national game, a source of pride.
In
November, a former football player named Andrew Woodward waived his
right to anonymity to talk to The Guardian about his experience of being
sexually abused as a young player by Barry Bennell, a former soccer
coach, talent scout and pedophile. Mr. Bennell was sentenced to nine
years in prison in 1998 after admitting to 23 charges of sexual offenses
against six boys, ages 9 to 15. (This week, appearing in court on a new set of charges relating to sexual abuse against a boy in the 1980s, Mr. Bennell pleaded not guilty.)