“There have been cases coming to court of academy footballers from all different clubs told that they had to pay £50,000 if they don’t want their penis pictures sent all over the internet.” He said gangs were also trying to blackmail young footballers via sexting.
When Green mentioned the cases to 17 and 18-year-old players in one of the IWF training sessions they showed him dozens of similar messages. Don’t tell your club.’”Ĭoncerns about Snapchat messages were first raised by two younger boys. “On Snapchat it just says a name like Ben at the top and : ‘I’m from an agency representing players from Manchester and London, and we have offices in both places and we’ve been watching you with interest, following you, and we’re interested in signing you for this agency.
Green said this method of online grooming was “very prevalent” and he had heard of other cases across the country.
