Eric Cantona to play raped rugby player on TV to tackle child abuse in sport

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    Eric Cantona hopes his hard-hitting new TV role as a raped rugby player will help tackle the scourge of child abuse in sport.

    He plays Sébastien Boueilh, who was sexually assaulted from 12 to 16 by a cousin's husband while driving him home from training. The attacker was jailed for 10 years.

    Cantona, who turned to acting after retiring for football, plays Boueilh in the time he left rugby depressed from the trauma he had kept secret. The Manchester United legend said he saw the role as a 'public service' to address abuse in sport.

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    More victims are expected to emerge after it was screened and won a top French TV award.

    The drama was inspired by a book Boueilh penned about his ordeal called Le Colosse aux Pieds d'Argile – or The Giant with Feet of Clay.

    In the drama he meets another boy who is being abused, leading him to confront his own past and accuse his attacker.

    Cantona, 56, said he hoped the drama would help the many youngsters targeted by paedophiles in sports clubs and other adult-run activities.

    How do you think sports should tackle child sexual abuse? Let us know in the comments section.

    "These torturers are very strong," he said. "They are manipulators. They're always the perfect guy, the real mate, the perfect uncle that no-one suspects.

    "They try to make the kid feel guilty. My commitment goes beyond the character. It's a public service film."

    France has faced a series of scandals with coaches in skating, swimming, tennis and football accused of abusing youngsters in their care.

    Didier Gailhaguet, the head of the national ice sports federation for more than 20 years, had to resign over rape accusations in the figure skating world.

    Boueilh, 44, who now runs a charity employing 40 people campaigning for child abuse victim, advised Cantona and Timi-Joy Marbot, who plays him as a boy.

    "We want this film to be seen in the maximum number of homes and I think we have the ingredients for that,'' Boueilh said.

    The film's high point is when the abuser is convicted in court which Boueilh said was 'the most beautiful day of my life'.

    But he warned child abuse remains common in the sports world despite new public awareness.

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