Any investigation into Crawley Town FC racist abuse allegations should look at John Yems’ career
Allegations of racist abuse involving Crawley Town FC manager John Yems should look at the coach’s work at other football clubs, says specialist abuse lawyer, Dino Nocivelli.
Posted on 06 May 2022
A partner in the abuse team at law firm Leigh Day, Dino specialises in cases of abuse that occur in sports settings and has represented survivors of racist abuse in claims against Chelsea Football Club.
Dino says the allegations of segregated changing rooms and the repeated use of offensive racist language under Yems’ leadership at Crawley FC are horrifying but sadly a familiar story.
The kind of abuse described is typical of the cases Dino has represented and says the impact on young people is devastating and lifelong.
Such abuse by people in positions of trust over young people in sports settings is usually part of a pattern repeated throughout their careers. As such, it is vital that any investigation into such allegations takes a long view of an alleged perpetrator’s work.
The allegations about John Yems were made public earlier this week and on Friday further developments in the case were announced.
Leigh Day partner and specialist abuse solicitor Dino Nocivelli said:
“The allegations of racist abuse made against John Yems are serious and need thorough investigation. If Yems is found guilty of racially abusing players as alleged then he should be punished to the highest possible level.
“It is important to remember that abuse does not take place in a vacuum and if Yems is found to have racially abused players at Crawley Town then an investigation needs to take place at all of the other clubs he worked at (to include Fulham, Millwall, Exeter City, Gillingham and Bournemouth) and action also needs to be taken against those that knew or should have known that abuse was taking place.”