The Press Association: Premier league footballer 'threatened by gang'

The Press Association: Premier league footballer 'threatened by gang': "member of a south London gang told the BBC that one Premier League player had grown up with gang members and now had to pay them protection money or risk being attacked and having his career ended.
The gang member said: 'The people above me have ordered this person that he has to pay them a certain amount of money every couple of months.
'That's just in case, so no one can touch you for three or four years but you are still paying that money every three months to keep yourself safe.
'It's £15,000 every two or three months, that may not seem a lot to a Premier League footballer but it's a lot of money.'
The gang member said hiring private security would not protect the player, adding: 'We know where your family, friends and the people close to you live and your security isn't going to protect them all the time.'
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) said the claims underline the need for clubs to be aware of security issues surrounding players and their families.
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor said: 'Football reflects society and sometimes society can be not very pleasant.
'If these threats are a reality it's a terrible intimidating thing for the player concerned. Clubs and players are a lot more conscious [about security], we have made them aware of this, and there's a strong need for private security to go alongside the police.'"

Posted in: 'Football reflects society and sometimes society can be not very pleasant.