Atletico Madrid launch investigation amid sexual abuse revelations

Atletico Madrid have cut ties with former youth coach Manuel Brinas after he admitted to sexually assaulting young players he worked with.

The club has also launched an investigation “to rule out the existence of any such event during the years he was linked to our club”.

Brinas, who founded the Atletico academy, revealed the horrific acts in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais:

“There were things that happened at the time that were a little bit strange. It was an accident. It was only once or twice.”

However, the 88-year-old’s version of events does not match with that of the victim and four other former students who have also come forward with testimonies of abuse, according to El Pais.

Brinas admitted to abusing an individual named as Miguel MH, now 59, at the Hermanos Amoros school. According to Miguel MH’s testimony the abuse took place between 1973 and 1975 until he confronted Brinas.

A statement put on the club’s website read:

“We strongly condemn this type of behaviour and show our firmest repudiation of such serious events.

“We are dismayed because during the years that Manuel Brinas has been linked to our quarry there has never been the slightest suspicion about his figure, but quite the opposite, since he has been perceived as someone highly respected inside and outside of Atletico de Madrid.

“Atletico began an internal investigation yesterday through its Compliance department to rule out the existence of any such event during the years that it was linked to our club.”