Gabon’s dark football secret

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Gabon is football crazy and it’s the dream of most young footballers to play internationally. But, in 2022 a long serving coach for youth national teams admitted to charges of raping, grooming, and exploiting young players. He faces up to 30 years in prison. For Assignment, BBC Africa Eye’s Khadidiatou Cissé travels to Gabon to investigate one of the biggest sexual abuse scandals in the history of football. She speaks with victims and eyewitnesses who reveal a shocking culture of sexual abuse and despair, with claims that many people knew, and many stayed silent. We follow a coach who, at personal risk, is determined to bring about change. Football’s world governing body, FIFA, is facing accusations of failing to take effective action over the scandal. Presented by Khadidiatou Cissé Produced by Stephanie Stafford and Suzanne Vanhooymissen. BBC Eye editors Rebecca Henschke and Tom Watson Mixed by Neil Churchill Assignment series editor: Penny Murphy (Image: Child holding football boots. Credit: BBC)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	LiveSless Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service, bringing you extraordinary
0:05.7	personal stories from around the globe.
0:08.6	Search for LiveSless Ordinary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:16.6	Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:20.0	I'm Hadija Tussisi, a reporter with AfricaI and in this edition of Assignment, I'm in
0:25.6	the Central African country of Gabon to investigate a dark secret in football.
0:31.8	You may find some of the details in this programme disturbing.
0:35.8	Good evening my friend, I said I would call you back, so here is a clear and precise message.
0:44.4	I've been handed this audio message from a man who's too frightened to meet, but who
0:50.0	wants to tell his story.
0:52.2	We were at a football training camp for five days and on the fourth night they came for me.
0:59.9	We were in the dorm, lying in our bunk beds and in the middle of the night they came.
1:05.5	They were going to the rooms and sorry, it still affects me.
1:13.0	It's a secret, secret kind of thing, so if you want to keep playing, you have to keep
1:17.8	the secret.
1:25.8	It's Saturday morning football training on a field in the suburbs of Gabon's capital, Libraville.
1:37.8	The coach is former international player, Pafeindong.
1:43.8	He sorts the younger boys aged from three to ten into groups.
1:52.8	Defenders and attackers.
1:55.8	There's a star quality about Pafe.
1:58.8	The kids hang on his every word.
2:02.8	Football is almost a religion here in Gabon.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.