LONDON – Football was accused of having a “cultural problem” as former England international Adam Johnson was sentenced to six years in prison after engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan.

Johnson, once a winger with Sunderland and Manchester City, was found guilty on Thursday following an incident in his Range Rover car in County Durham, northeast England, last year.

It has become increasingly commonplace to hear English football fans voicing their disillusionment with the cash-rich Premier League.

One criticism is that in paying the likes of Johnson a weekly wage of £60,000 (S$116,230), more than three times the average annual salary in the town where they play, clubs such as northeast side Sunderland have created a generation of spoilt players, who then expect to be indulged off the field as well.

It was a view that found echoes in a letter sent by Britain’s NSPCC children’s charity to the chairman of England’s governing Football Association, Greg Dyke, on Thursday.

“The NSPCC’s concern lies not in the behaviour of a single individual – although that is horrifying – but in the approach taken by Sunderland… We are worried this could be a cultural problem within football as a whole,” wrote Peter Wanless, the charity’s chief executive.

Johnson, 28, was sacked by struggling Premier League side Sunderland straight after his guilty plea.

But the fallout saw the club’s chief executive, Margaret Byrne, resign on March 8 after she accepted making a “serious mistake” in being party to letting Johnson play on for nearly a year despite knowing he had admitted to kissing a 15-year-old girl.

Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of England’s Professional Footballers’ Association, insisted his organisation took child protection seriously and that his members were aware of “danger zones” involving young female fans.

“It’s not as though we don’t know the law of the land and we don’t expect footballers to be immune from it,” Taylor told BBC Sport after Johnson was sentenced.

“Of course there will be times when there are danger zones. With young women, particularly girls, then that’s even more dangerous.

“So they (footballers) need to be very, very mindful and there’s a line beyond which they just do not cross,” insisted Taylor, who added the PFA needed to “work even harder on these child protection and safeguarding issues”.

Taylor said Johnson’s chances of playing professionally again were “very remote”, a view backed up by the experience of former Wales striker Ched Evans.

Evans, currently appealing against his conviction for raping a 19-year-old woman, was released from prison in October 2014. He then saw an attempt to resurrect his career with third-tier club Oldham Athletic collapse amid a public outcry.

That Johnson was later revealed, when reporting restrictions were lifted, to have also been arrested for possessing extreme pornography is unlikely to have shocked fans who have grown used to lurid tales involving footballers.

Star France striker Karim Benzema, cleared on all charges in an underage sex trial in Paris two years ago, was indefinitely suspended from international duty in December after he was placed under investigation over an attempt to bribe France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena for a sex tape.

It has still to be decided if Real Madrid forward Benzema will feature at the European Championships in France in June.

Passing sentence at Bradford Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Rose said Johnson had taken advantage of a “young teenager’s adoration with celebrity”.

But the recent imprisonment of several British entertainment industry figures showed football does not have a monopoly on illegal sexual conduct.

MIAMI – Former England football great David Beckham has taken a key step towards his goal of launching a Major League Football franchise by buying land for a stadium in Miami, one of his partners said Thursday.

Beckham’s group of investors acquired land in the Overtown neighborhood northwest of downtown in the Florida city.

“Big News: We’ve closed on our #Miami stadium site. Excited to bring a world-class @MLS club to our fans,” tweeted Beckham’s partner Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint telecom company.

Beckham, 40, has pursued the project for a 20,000-seat stadium since late 2013.

Several attempts to buy land at other sites failed in the face of opposition from residents and local authorities concerned about increased traffic in a city already afflicted by heavy congestion.

The Miami Beckham United group must now buy additional public land for parking and convince the city to permit construction, which will require overhauling zoning regulations, the Miami Herald reported.

“We have the right site, the right ownership group, and a loyal base of fans counting down the days until our first match,” the group said in a statement.

“We’re all-in on Overtown, and we couldn’t be more excited about moving forward with plans to deliver the most responsible stadium in Miami history.” Addressing concerns the stadium may not provide enough parking in the car-addicted city, the group said the site lies within walking distance of public transportation and downtown.

Beckham’s team is set to stage its MLS debut in 2018.

The former England captain’s contract to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 gave him the option to create a new MLS team for the reduced price of $25 million.

His professional move to the United States was seen as a boon to a sport that remains overshadowed by American football, baseball and other homegrown sports.