Every time information that claims wrongdoing surfaces it has to be taken with caution. But it would not be surprising to see a lot emerge at once.
| Unverified information without proof must always be taken with a grain of salt, and individuals or institutions remain innocent until it is proven that they have committed any wrongdoing. But also, when journalists release information while risking their career as serious individuals, in order to release information, there often is a large degree of truth in what is being said. French Journalist Romain Molina (Twitter) informally released very controversial, high-impact information (Reddit) about the Association Football industry during a Twitter webcast. As such, the information he has revealed should not be taken as a journalistic report neither as a inherently true, but the insider information that he has released could have important consequences for the medium-term future of the sport, particularly in some countries. The most dramatic information he released pertains cases of sexual abuse, including ‘revealing’ that sexual abuse is rampant in some national federations and leagues, as well as some cases regarding specific football players. Others involve a range os issues as wide as a federation filling out its national team with paid foreign-born players, cases of match-fixing, faking covid tests, etc. He did not expand much in any of these. He says that he will release a book in April that he claims will change football for a “before and after”. While it sounds pretentious it could well be true if it eventually leads to changes, investigations, and perhaps even convictions. Time will tell. What is hard to question is the fact that in an industry as large as Association Football there has been wrongdoing committed for a long time regardless of the noble efforts and intentions of the majority in the industry. |
