Creating a culture of safeguarding in elite sport — 3 key building blocks for success

Over the last few years, the sporting world has set many milestones in terms of gender equality — yet safeguarding issues have often been overlooked and are still prevalent, even at the elite level. 

Unfortunately, we’ve seen increasing reports and convictions of abuse, bullying, harassment and misconduct — including Larry Nassar for the biggest sexual abuse scandal in sporting history at the London 2012 Olympics — and with more elite athletes being minors than ever before, the urgent need to prioritise a culture of safeguarding is obvious.

Here, Allana Edwards and Catherine Forshaw set out the reasons why, discuss who bears the responsibility and identify three key building blocks to help create a safer environment for all.

The need for safeguarding

While abuse in sport isn’t a new issue, high-profile cases and increasing media coverage mean that we now have increased awareness of the dangers that exist. 

Age is a major concern. China’s Zheng Haohao was the youngest Olympian at Paris 2024, being just 11 years old during competition and one of hundreds of children competing. Since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t set a minimum age requirement to compete in the Olympics, the international federation (IF) of each individual sport can decide. That’s why some sports have minimum age requirements — such as gymnastics, which is set at 16 years old for female gymnasts — while other sports don’t, such as skateboarding. The participation of such young athletes raises safeguarding concerns and questions about the impact of elite sport on youth development. 

Harassment and abuse in sports — whether psychological, physical, sexual or neglect — pose serious risks to athletes and can of course impact their psychological, physical and emotional well-being. 

Sports medicine physicians (SMPs) are often the first to notice when something is wrong. A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine highlighted how most SMPs are uncomfortable recognising the signs of harassment or abuse or reporting concerns. Nearly 85% of them want more education in this area. Despite increasing awareness of harassment and abuse in sport, this study reveals a critical gap in the training and confidence of SMPs worldwide — and addressing these barriers is essential.

What makes athletes vulnerable to abuse and harm?

Safeguarding isn’t just an issue for elite athletes under the age of 18. It’s also a concern for adult elite athletes. 

The Ann Craft Trust guidance on the Vulnerability of Adult Elite Athletes states that an array of factors — including environmental, organisational, personal, trust and the transition from junior to senior sport — can contribute to how vulnerable elite athletes are to abuse and harm. 

In many cases, it’s the combination and culmination of factors that impact levels of vulnerability. These issues are amplified further when considering para-athletes and intellectually impaired athletes, with those responsible for their safeguarding having to take extra precautions. 

Environment

Athletes who are expected to travel and spend a significant amount of time away from home are at increased risk due to reduced contact with friends and family. Such individuals often find themselves in an elite sport ‘bubble’, where having limited contact outside of the sport can lead to confusion over what behaviours are appropriate due to lack of reference points. 

These intense, high-pressure environments where funding often depends on results can lead to pressure to achieve no matter the cost — and foster a culture where athletes are expected to do ‘whatever it takes’ without complaint to ensure that they achieve and maintain peak performance. 

Organisation

The lack of strong policies and cultures of accountability can further increase vulnerability, since some organisations may have unclear structures around who complaints should be raised to and how to deal with safeguarding concerns. 

Personal

Elite athletes are in the public eye. This lends itself to increasing vulnerability by putting individuals on a pedestal with immense pressure to deliver performance-wise. This intense scrutiny can lead to acute awareness of things like weight changes and personal appearance. 

Athletes may also face pressure from coaches and the public to stay healthy and injury free, which may cause them to overtrain or compete in unfit states — and just like everyone else, athletes will also face personal life issues, which must be managed alongside their demanding careers.

Trust

When elite athletes work so closely with trusted people and regularly have intensive one-to-one training relationships with coaches and support staff, there’s a risk that this influence will be abused. 

Athletes may feel powerless and struggle to challenge those in authority or positions of power. They may be fearful to voice concerns as those individuals may have full control over their training, competition, planning and opportunities. Unfortunately, any imbalance of power can lend itself to risk of abuse. 

Transition from junior to senior

Athletes transitioning from junior to senior status are at risk due to the increased pressure placed on them as they are thrown into a new competitive environment. 

At a very young age, athletes can be treated as adults — yet they’re still learning and developing physically. Often competing against much older and more experienced elite athletes, many will be desperately trying to keep up with and exceed any expectations that have been set. 

Understanding safeguarding & duty of care

Safeguarding is often perceived to be someone else’s responsibility, which can cause National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to overlook its complexities. Effective safeguarding requires more than policies or statements — it demands institutional commitment and practical measures.

NGBs oversee elite participation, which typically involves adults over 18. However, as discussed above, many elite athletes are in fact minors. There’s often confusion over who’s responsible for these risks — whether it be the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or International Paralympic Committee (IPC) or alternatively individual teams like Team GB.

Within any organisation, clear structures and responsibilities are essential so that those responsible for safeguarding can be signposted to participants. Understanding what obligations organisations have in terms of duty of care is also crucial. It’s clear from parliamentary guidance that sporting organisations have an obligation to protect children and adults from harm, which is prescribed both by legislation and standards established in the sector. They must ensure the welfare, personal safety and mental wellbeing of participants, volunteers and staff. 

Three key building blocks of safeguarding 

There are three key components relevant to all sporting clubs and organisations in terms of addressing safeguarding — culture, response and accessibility. 

Central to this is the concept of collective ownership. Without everyone taking responsibility, safeguarding becomes a matter for ‘others’. Fundamentally, any effective safeguarding regime must be able to also secure the confidence of all stakeholders and participants. For sporting associations, these standards must be upheld by every individual participant and stakeholder.

1. Culture

Any safeguarding policy is meaningless without a clear means and intention of enforcement behind it — both of which are dictated by culture. Often, funding is used as an excuse for why safeguarding issues are hard to tackle. However, the real obstacle is culture. Without a resolve to prioritise safeguarding and a culture where safeguarding is embedded into the institutional integrity of the sport, no safeguarding policy will be truly effective. A culture of safeguarding must be declared as one of the foundational values of the organisation. 

2. Response

It seems obvious that to achieve an authentic safeguarding culture, there must be a commitment to responding to any concerns raised and conducting proper investigations to find resolutions. How organisations respond to concerns is the greatest testament to the quality of their commitment to a safeguarding culture. Responses should be consistent, proportionate and fair. Organisations should also be transparent with their responses. This will enhance stakeholder confidence and promote consistency. It also provides the opportunity to review how fit for purpose existing policy arrangements are. 

3. Accessibility

For safeguarding policies to be effective, they must be accessible, encourage concerns to be raised and provide effective means for doing so. Accessibility depends on establishing trust and cultivating a place of safety from which a potential complainant feels safe to share. Confidentiality must also be considered. Without it, the integrity of an investigation could be questioned and others may be deterred from raising concerns. Confidentiality will also protect the reputation of those involved until an investigation has concluded.

Approaches to safeguarding in practice  

Traditionally seen as rivals, the UK Sports Institute, US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Australian Institute of Sport and High Performance Sport New Zealand have come together to form ’The Global Alliance’. This aims to collaborate for the benefit of female athletes across the globe by sharing knowledge and best practice. 

Sport England has also fostered a culture where safeguarding is paramount. Its dedicated website hub points athletes, parents, carers, organisations and all others affected to the relevant tailored guidance and reporting mechanisms. Similarly, Team GB has set out signposts and safeguarding commitments on its website. 

British Gymnastics has re-shaped the way it looks at safeguarding following several high-profile scandals. This resulted in it commissioning an independent review to assess its safeguarding practices and subsequently implementing stronger measures and taking a more robust approach. British Gymnastics puts safeguarding as its top priority and launched a ‘Report and Support’ system to enable concerns to be reported in a confidential manner. In 2023, new safeguarding policies were introduced for hydration, weighing gymnasts and academic education to better protect the welfare of gymnasts. 

The FA has introduced comprehensive safeguarding measures and developed a Safeguarding Children in Football strategy which includes mandatory safeguarding courses for all coaches, managers and staff working with children. It also requires clubs and organisations to have dedicated safeguarding officers who are responsible for child protection and all individuals working with children must undergo Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Individuals are also encouraged to report safeguarding concerns with a strong Whistleblowing Policy.

England Rugby has introduced several safeguarding initiatives to ensure the welfare of children and vulnerable adults in the sport, including developing its ‘RugbySafe’ programme to help create safer environments for all and prioritise player welfare. 

The British Olympic Association has implemented a ‘Safeguarding and Protecting Children Policy and Procedures’ to deal with safeguarding issues. When it comes to minors living alongside adults in the Olympic Village, Scott Field (Director of Communications for Team GB) explained to The Athletic: “we have a welfare plan that dictates how sports should manage where and who athletes room with, in the Olympic Village or other accommodation. Under 16s would have a chaperone with them, who must also accompany them when outside of the Olympic Village/their satellite accommodation.”

IOC & IPC approach to safeguarding

The IOC has taken steps to strengthen safeguarding across the Olympic Movement by working with ‘Safe Sport’ to create a culture and environment where athletes can train and compete in healthy and supportive environments, free from abuse. Safe Sport has an online reporting portal for complainants to raise concerns, helping make it accessible. 

The IOC Safe Sport Unit was established in 2022 and introduced new programmes and initiatives beyond the Games that cover education and awareness-raising such as the IOC Safeguarding Toolkit for IFs and the IOC Mental Health in Elite Athlete’s Toolkit, which help National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and IFs to develop and implement policies and procedures in this field. Olympic Agenda 2020+5 has set the strategic roadmap, which includes calls for further strengthening of Safe Sport and protecting athletes’ mental health. 

At Paris 2024, the IOC encouraged each national team to have a safeguarding officer and offered two extra accreditations for welfare officers. This was a step up from the 2020 Tokyo Games, where the IOC only brought in chaperones for athletes under 16. The move was welcomed by nine-time Olympic medallist Leisel Jones, who said that she couldn’t recall any extra support offered to her during her first Olympics when she was just 15.

The IOC has highlighted that Paris had the most comprehensive package of mental health and safeguarding tools of any Olympic Games. This included having more than 160 accredited welfare officers from 87 national Olympic committees at the Games, a new AI-powered monitoring service to protect athletes from online hate, a 24/7 Mentally Fit Helpline and two safeguarding officers in the Olympic Village. The Olympic village also had an Athlete365 Mind Zone x Powerade space designed to help athletes relax, recharge and prepare for competition, which was a first of its kind. 

The IPC has developed and updated its Global Safeguarding Framework and Safeguarding Policy, which applies to all athletes, staff, coaches and volunteers involved in the Paralympic Games. This framework provides clear guidelines on how to identify, prevent and respond to safeguarding issues.

In Paris, there was a focus on ensuring that venues and other facilities were fully accessible and that athletes' rights were upheld in every aspect of the Games. To help provide suitable training venues for para athletes, the City of Paris invested over EUR 10m into improving accessibility at six of the capital’s sports facilities.

How we can help 

While there have been many positive steps forward, there’s clearly a lack of standardisation taken in approaches to safeguarding. Both NGBs and other sporting organisations often don’t question whether the policies they rely on are legally fit for purpose. 

To achieve a true safeguarding culture within elite sport, we need to work towards a mindset of collective ownership. All organisations must ensure that they’re tackling safeguarding issues and taking responsibility. 

We appreciate that this can be a complex and sensitive area to navigate. That’s why our multidisciplinary and award-winning sports law team contains leading experts in safeguarding who can help you to stay compliant and ensure the safety of your athletes. 

Our specialists work closely with NGB’s, international federations, elite sports clubs and large sports agencies both throughout the UK and around the world.

We can further advise on how to implement more gender-equal initiatives, policies and procedures and answer any questions about how the changing landscape of women’s sport could affect your club or playing career.

Talk to us by giving us a call, sending us an email or completing our contact form below.