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FA chairman: Football asleep to issue of child sex abuse in 1990s

FA chairman Greg Clarke said football - and society as a whole - had a "total unawareness" of safeguarding children in the 1990s.

Speaking as police forces around the country investigate historical allegations from more than 20 former players said the sport and other institutions were "sleepwalking" rather than dealing with the problem.

Eight police forces are now looking into allegations of historical abuse in football.

There have been 250 reports made to police and more than 50 calls were made to an NSPCC hotline set up for sexual abuse victims in football in the initial hours of opening.

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Government to ask other sports bodies to stamp out abuse

Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The government will write to additional sports governing bodies to ask them to look into potential child sex abuse in their respective sports.

The Football Association's internal investigation into historic sex abuse in football will be "properly resourced", the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said.

Karen Bradley said it would look at "what the FA and clubs knew, and when, and what action was or should have been taken".

She was responding to an urgent question by Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan about historic sex abuse in football.

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