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Matt Le Tissier claims he was given a "naked massage" by a man at the centre of abuse scandal

Southampton legend Matthew Le Tissier has become the most high-profile name to become involved in...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.18 7 Dec 2016


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Matt Le Tissier claims he was...

Matt Le Tissier claims he was given a "naked massage" by a man at the centre of abuse scandal

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.18 7 Dec 2016


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Southampton legend Matthew Le Tissier has become the most high-profile name to become involved in the football child abuse scandal in Britain.

The 48-year-old told the BBC he was given a "naked massage" by Bob Higgins, a former youth coach at the club. Higgins has denied all allegations of abuse, and was cleared of sexual abuse in 1992.

Despite those charges being dropped, the Football League has three years previously, written to all their clubs, advising them not to deal with Higgins or his academy.

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Le Tissier called his incident with Higgins as "very wrong".

"Everyone was kind of naked and getting thrown on this bed... and a very quick massage - it was uncomfortable.. it's very, very wrong for a start - looking back on it, you think it's wrong but as a young boy you thought 'is this normal'?"

"What went on is not normal behaviour. When you hear the stories of naked soapy massages, hairy bum competitions... you look back at it now and think 'hang on, what was going on?'"

Since Le Tissier made his experiences public, the former striker has spoken of the support other former players need.


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