Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández is “surprised and stunned” because the former director of the lower categories of Barcelona has been accused of sexually abusing dozens of former students at a public school where he also worked.
Xavi spoke on Saturday shortly after authorities in northeastern Spain said they were opening an investigation after the newspaper ARA reported that more than 60 of his former students accuse Albert Benaiges of having sexually abused them while he was a physical education teacher at a Barcelona public school. ARA said Benaiges has denied wrongdoing.
It seems that none of the former Barcelona players has joined the accusations.
Benaiges, 71, was a key member of Barcelona’s youth training academy between 1991 and 2011, coinciding with a generation of the club’s best players, including Andrés Iniesta and Xavi.
Horrible story that emerges in Barcelona when Barça youth coach Albert Benaiges is accused of sexual abuse by 60 different men and women … https://t.co/i31IvNTlhs
– Ben Hayward (@bghayward) December 10, 2021
After passing through foreign clubs, Benaiges returned to Barcelona last year after the return of Joan Laporta to his presidency. He reportedly resigned last week for personal reasons.
“I have no information that there have been any kind of these episodes, although that does not mean they have not occurred,” Xavi said at a routine pre-match press conference. “He was my coach and I never had any suspicions. I am very surprised and stunned, I did not expect it.
“This is a very delicate issue, very complicated,” added Xavi. “I have spoken with the coaching staff because we love Albert Benaiges very much. We were very surprised. We always had a great relationship and he left a very good legacy. It is the justice system that will have to decide ”.
Barcelona has yet to comment publicly on the investigation.
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