Gary Johnson receives face-to-face apology from Chelsea directors
Thursday 8 December 2016 11:22, UK
Former Chelsea striker Gary Johnson has received a personal apology at a face-to-face meeting with the club board.
The meeting took place on Wednesday at a hotel close to Stamford Bridge and Sky Sports News HQ understands it was attended by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, and club directors Eugene Tenenbaum and Marina Granovskaia.
Johnson, now 57, has claimed he was paid £50,000 as 'hush money' by Chelsea after alleging he was abused by the club's former chief scout Eddie Heath while a youth team player at the London club in the 1970s.
Chelsea issued an official, 900-word statement last week which said Johnson had "suffered unacceptably" and that it had "no desire to hide any historical abuse we uncover from view".
The club have also said an external review will examine whether it carried out a proper investigation when the allegations first came to light, and why it did not report them to the Football Association and Premier League.
Heath, who was the club's chief scout from 1968 to 1979, died before the allegations were made.
Meanwhile, Sport England will write to 10,000 clubs and institutions that it funds to stress the importance of child protection in the wake of the football abuse scandal.
Chief executive Jennie Price told Sky News: "The stories of abuse we have heard are really upsetting but I applaud those men who have come forward. This is an area in which openness is vital so the fact they have been able to talk about it is admirable.
"We will be writing to 10,000 institutions and grassroots clubs that receive grants from us to remind them of the importance of having up-to-date child protection measures in place."
