Police Scotland and SFA hold talks over child sex abuse claims

Police Scotland and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) have held talks to discuss allegations of child sex abuse within the sport.

Justice minister Cathy Jamieson has backed an overarching abuse probe. Picture: PA

Officers said after the meeting that Police Scotland was the “investigative authority” for any reports of abuse.

The development came after former justice minister Cathy Jamieson warned that the Scottish Government should not “step back” from holding a general inquiry into historical child abuse due to cost, time or difficulty.

The former Labour MSP said the Scottish Football Association (SFA) should investigate claims of abuse but also said this should not prevent an overarching inquiry by the Scottish Government. She said: “Inquiries are difficult to please everyone because not everyone will be happy with the outcome, some people will feel they haven’t been heard and haven’t had a voice, but we shouldn’t step back from doing an overarching inquiry by government simply because it’s difficult, or because of the time it takes or simply because of the cost.” Deputy First Minister John Swinney on Sunday rejected calls to widen the government inquiry and said the SFA should hold its own independent inquiry.