LONDON – By Omobolaji Oyegunle. The five Premier League clubs in London are being investigated over allegations of historical sexual abuse, Metropolitan Police has said.
The Met said it has received 255 separate allegations involving 77 teams from the capital, 30 per cent of the clubs being investigated across the country.
Last month, the Met said allegations related to four Premier League clubs and five from the Football League but in its latest update all of the capital’s top-flight clubs are involved as well as three from the Championship and three from League One and Two.
Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace all say they have not been contacted by police while Arsenal declined comment.
Last month, it was revealed that Chelsea had paid former player Gary Johnson £50,000 after he was abused by former chief scout Eddie Heath in the Seventies.
Heath also woked at Leyton Orient, Charlton and Millwall.
The Met is investigating abuse claims against QPR’s former head of youth recruitment, Chris Gieler’ dating back to the Seventies.
Detective chief superintendent Ivan Balhatchet, of the sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, said; ”The Met takes all allegations seriously, and specialist officers will work through the information passed to them”.
Last week, the National Police Council, which is co-ordinating the nationwide investigation into sexual abuse in football, said there were allegations relating to 248 clubs, spanning all tiers ofthe game down to amateur level.
