The first victim of sexual abuse as a young footballer to speak out in the United Kingdom has criticised the Football Association's child protection policies as "vague" and "weak".
Ian Ackley claimed he was abused as a boy between 1979 and 1983 in an interview with Channel 4's Dispatches programme in 1997.
His story was largely ignored then but is now top of the agenda after a succession of other former players have recently revealed their own experiences.
Speaking to Press Association Sport, Ackley said: "If you look through the FA's policies you see 'should do', 'should do', 'should do', not 'must do', 'must do', 'must do'.
"There are no obligations anywhere, it's all very weak, everything is kept in house and everything is very vague.
"Nothing seems to be prescribed at all - it's all guidelines. Basically, if you want to cover something up, you can."
Ackley's continued attempts to seek justice have taken him to the House of Lords, where members today debated the recent allegations of widespread historic abuse in the national game.
That debate, which was called by Liberal Democrat Lord Addington, came on the same day that a leading campaign group for improved child protection laws accused the FA of "failing" children because of its "confused" safeguarding policies.
In a review by Mandate Now, the FA's policies are criticised for being contradictory, hard to read and wrong on several points of law, most notably the incorrect belief that it is a legal obligation to report concerns of child or sexual abuse to the police.
Making that an obligation is Mandate Now's key goal but despite the FA's mistaken view that this is already the case, the governing body only describes this as a "guideline" in its safeguarding document and not a requirement.
In a press release, Mandate Now's Tom Perry said: "With this much confusion in the FA's approach to child protection, it will be no surprise to discover that much abuse in football continues to go unreported."
Speaking to Press Association Sport, Perry added: "There is a lot in the FA documents about reporting within and reporting up but nothing about reporting out - that is a fundamental element of any effective child protection framework."
Perry added that the UK is "badly out of step" with the rest of the developed world in making the reporting of concerns about child or sexual abuse mandatory, pointing out that recent research suggests 80% of nations require this in law.
Mandate Now's work was referenced in the House of Lords debate by Baronesses Brinton and Walmsley, who also alluded to the numerous letters Ackley's father wrote more than 20 years ago to the football authorities and police about his son's treatment.
His father only ever received one short reply from the FA to those letters and Ackley himself has never been contacted by the governing body.
The FA is understood to be considering Mandate Now's criticisms and is already scheduled for an audit of its safeguarding work by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) in early 2017.
The governing body has worked closely with the CPSU since 2000 and three weeks ago helped to set up a dedicated, 24-hour helpline for those affected by sexual abuse in football with the NSPCC. That helpline has received 1,700 calls in three weeks.
Those calls have generated a huge number of leads for the 21 police forces that are now investigating fresh allegations of sexual abuse in football - but Press Association Sport understands that 98-99% of those are related to historic cases.
Meanwhile, Police Scotland chief constable Phil Gormley has said the force is investigating 109 reports of child sexual abuse in football.
Gormley told a Scottish Police Authority meeting the situation is ''fast-moving and fluid which requires both sensitive policing and strong partnership work''.
He said: ''At the point this information was pulled together for me this morning, we've received 109 referrals which relate to child sexual abuse within football.
''Specialist officers from the national child abuse investigation unit are assessing the information coming into us and determining the most appropriate response.''
He added: ''While capacity may be tested over the coming weeks and months, I'm genuinely confident that the strong partnerships built up over many years will ensure that we continue to provide a complete and holistic service that meets the needs of children and adults who have been abused during their childhood.''
::The NSPCC football abuse helpline number is 0800 023 2642.
Source: PA
