Convicted paedophile invited to Man Utd game with club unaware of offences
Manchester United have issued an apology after inviting convicted paedophile Geoff Konopka to Old Trafford as a "special guest" last year.
Konopka coached Manchester United Ladies - who were run on a volunteer basis and Konopka was unpaid for the role, with the club having no official involvement in the team at the time - between 1983 and 2001, but was sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 after he was convicted of 19 offences of indecent assault and gross indecency against girls under the ages of 14 and 16.
The 79-year-old was also put on the sex offenders' register for a decade following his conviction. Konopka also has an "active suspension" on the Football Association's safeguarding system, banning him from working or coaching within football.
However, the Times report that Konopka was invited to Old Trafford in March last year to watch United play Everton in the Women's Super League - a game with 20,241 fans in attendance including a large portion of families with young children..
They also celebrated Konopka's role with United Ladies, a team which was run on a volunteer basis and had no official involvement from the club at the time, by featuring him in a display at the Old Trafford museum and running an article about him online and in a match day programme. Konopka was quoted in the story, which highlighted United being one of the first women's teams to play at Wembley while he was in charge in 1994 and 1996.
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In response, United said they "will have no further connection" with Konopka and have apologised to "all those affected by these abhorrent crimes". The Times state that several ex-players first made the club aware of Konopka's convictions and expressed "shock" and "disgust" at him being "paraded hand-in-hand with Manchester United" in emails sent to their safeguarding co-ordinator.
In one email, an ex-United Ladies defender said: "The women's game is ever evolving and there are a lot of vulnerable girls wanting to pursue their dreams who will be reading and looking at your website and possibly looking at him as a role model. I am sickened and disgusted to see this vile man online."
Konopka admitted to serving time in prison for "historical" offences when contacted by the Times, which 'took place about 30 years before his sentencing'. The report adds that United did not remove the article about "Konopka's Reds" when first contacted by former players, instead telling them they were "still in the fact-finding stage".
Konopka is a convicted paedophile who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 (Manchester United)This is despite the club's safeguarding co-ordinator telling one complainant that "Geoff is not involved in football with children at the club" and that his "FA suspension prevents individuals from working and coaching within football and with children". The article was taken down earlier this week and any mention of Konopka has been removed from the museum.
"Manchester United has recently received information around these convictions, and as a matter of urgency has been in contact with the relevant legal and football authorities to substantiate the facts," the club said in a statement.
"The club has taken appropriate action after receiving this information and will have no further connection with the individual. Manchester United expresses its heartfelt sympathy to the victims and all those affected by these abhorrent crimes."
Konopka also denied allegations he made players 'feel uncomfortable' and 'often entered the changing rooms without knocking', telling the Times: "I never, ever entered the dressing room without knocking and never entered before I knew that everyone was changed and decent."
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