FC Barcelona will participate in the City Council’s pardon to the victims of Benaiges’ abuse

He Barcelona City Council will apologize on November 20 to victims of sexual abuse by former FC Barcelona training coach Albert Benaiges when he was also a physical education teacher at School of Barcelonawhere he worked for more than two decades. The administrations that will participate in this repair act are the following: Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Education Consortium and the Department of Education of the Generalitat, as well as the Barcelona Football Club, due to the educator’s connection to this club.

This was announced this Friday by the municipal government in a statement in which it was stated that the administrations with responsibilities in education will recognize situations of sexual abuse, humiliation and violations of rights committed by Benaiges in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

The case of Benaigesalready prescribed, was discovered in 2021, when it became known that the former Barça training coach had accumulated more than 60 testimonies against him for sexual abuse and 19 complaints by victims in Mossos d’Esquadra.

The reparation act will take place a year and a half after the creation of the Reparation Commission for victims of sexual violence in schools in Barcelona by the City Council and the Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona.

The purpose of the event is to “contribute to the process of repairing the damage caused” and for the administrations to “apologize and express their firm commitment to combating any violence”, to prevent similar events to repeat.

The renovation ceremony will be led by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboniand aimed at those who experienced situations of sexual violence at Escola Barcelona until 2010, their companions and the educational community of this school center.