Safe Sport Storyline #24

Safeguarding & the IOC Human Rights Progress Report 2022-2024, Safeguarding Women in Sport; Call to Action, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Webinar, plus Resources and News.

Jun 28, 2025

HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRESS REPORT 2021–2024

Last week the IOC published its first ever environmental and social responsibility report, titled “Human Rights Progress Report 2021-2024, covering sustainability, gender equality, the legacy of the Olympics Games and Human Rights, third-party assured and in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

The work of the IOC on Human Rights is overseen by the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights which is chaired by Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, former Executive Director of UN Women and former Deputy President of South Africa.

Reporting on the objectives of the “IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights” over the period 2021-2024, the publication covers three spheres of responsibility and five focus areas.

The spheres of responsibility being the:

IOC as an organisation
IOC as owner of the Olympic Games
IOC as leader of Olympic Movement

And the focus areas are:

Equality and non-discrimination
Safety and well-being
Livelihood and Decent Work
Voice
Privacy

In terms of elevating safeguarding on the continent of Africa spheres 1 and 2 in respect of the focus area of Safety and Wellbeing are of particular interest. This said, I do recommend reading the report in full to gain an insight into the IOC’s broader work on Human Rights.

With regard to Safety and Wellbeing, the Human Rights framework notes that: “Everyone is entitled to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and sport can be a key contributor to physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. This also requires taking active steps to prevent harm – whether from harassment and abuse or from unsafe working conditions.”

IOC as owner of the Olympic Games

The IOC has worked to strengthen various protection measures offered to athletes and their entourage at the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games. In particular, the IOC is tackling the issue of online abuse, fully integrating it within IOC safeguarding operations at Games-time. These protection measures include:

IOC Games-time Safeguarding Framework

The IOC Games-time Safeguarding Framework was first introduced at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and has been updated over time. Recent updates include:

provide updated definitions aligned with international standards;
detail expected standards of behaviour that will underline the principles by which a participant’s conduct may be challenged as a violation of the Framework;
provide guidance on how and where participants may report concerns, and the link to the IOC Rules of Procedure that describe the Games-time investigation and resolution procedures for different integrity issues after a report is made;
include a revised description of the roles of the IOC Safeguarding Officers and NOC Welfare Officers;
provide an update of the IOC safeguarding educational materials and new courses available;
provides special guidelines for reporting issues involving minors.

Mind Zone – Olympic Games Paris 2024

The Athlete365 Mind Zone x Powerade was an area specifically designated within the Paris 2024 Olympic Village to assist athletes in relaxing, recharging, and mentally preparing through mindfulness activities. Staffed by the IOC Safe Sport team, experts in athlete safeguarding and mental health first aid, the space operated 14 hours daily, providing athletes with support and confidential consultations. The Mind Zone successfully encouraged athletes to seek assistance for their mental health and wellbeing, as well as addressing safeguarding issues.

Welfare Officers and chaperones for athletes at the Olympic Games

The Welfare Officer Collaborative Programme for IFs and NOCs was delivered at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The IOC made available Welfare Officer accreditations for NOCs for certified mental health practitioners and/ or internationally certified Safeguarding Officers in sport. NOC Welfare Officers were the main focal points for issues affecting the well-being of the members of their delegation. To support athletes aged under 16 at the Olympic Games, NOCs could also accredit chaperones at a one-to-one ratio.

Mental health hotline

The IOC made available a dedicated, confidential, and anonymous helpline staffed by trained counsellors to athletes competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The helpline was available 24 hours a day in over 70 languages and will remain accessible to athletes for four years after the Games (until July 2028).

Targeting Online Abuse

During the Paris Olympic Games, the IOC deployed a tool that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help identify and respond proactively and at scale to online abuse directed towards athletes. All participating athletes had their public social media accounts covered, and athletes’ entourage members and technical officials could opt into the service.

This online abuse protection service:

analysed 2.4 million posts and comments from around 20,000 athletes’ and officials’ social media handles, in real time and in more than 35 languages;
flagged more than 152,000 posts and comments via AI as being potentially abusive;
verified more than 10,200 posts and comments as abusive, and reported them to the platforms for removal;
detected 8,900 unique accounts sending abusive messages.

IOC as leader of Olympic Movement

The report notes that the IOC is leading the Olympic Movement’s efforts to safeguard participants from all forms of interpersonal violence, in and through sport. Substantial progress has been made over the years to raise awareness and act on violence in sport.

Needs Assessment

The IOC conducted a Safeguarding Needs Assessments of International Sports Federations that indicated that at the end of 2024 that 87% have safeguarding policies and 100% have a designated safeguarding officer. To measure the comprehensiveness of the safeguarding measures, indicators were developed, and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The IOC has continued supporting IFs and NOCs in the development of safeguarding strategies across the Olympic Movement, following a “7P” approach.

Safe Sport Regional Hub Initiative

The IOC has launched the Safe Sport Regional Hub Initiative, a major programme designed to enhance athlete protection at the local level. The initiative followed discussions with various stakeholders, including victims of sexual abuse in sport. Their voices and concerns have been taken into account when designing the initiative’s mission. The IOC will initially establish two pilot hubs as proof of concept, one in Southern Africa and one in the Pacific Islands, before extending the models to other geographical areas.

The Safe Sport Regional Hub Initiative will feature key tools:

An International Safe Sport Framework, aimed at harmonising safeguarding standards and reinforcing the complementary roles and responsibilities of sport and state actors.
A sport-specific version of the International Classification of Violence Against Children (ICVAC) tool and its related response framework.
Guidelines for trauma-informed investigation of interpersonal violence in sport, which will support the implementation of trauma-informed practices in sports disciplinary procedures and the training of specialist trauma-informed investigators.

These tools are set for completion between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026.

You can download the IOC Human Rights Progress Report 2021-2024 here.

Safeguarding Women in Sport: Call to Action

On 19 June 2025, Mission 89, in collaboration with the @PermanentMission of Sierra Leone, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the United Nations, and the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica, hosted a side event at the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The event, “Safeguarding Women in Sport: Global Action Against Trafficking and Exploitation,” brought together diplomats, athletes, legal experts, researchers, and human rights champions to examine one of the most urgent and under-addressed issues in global sport: the trafficking and exploitation of women and girls. Highlights of the event included:

The official presentation of the Global Thematic Report on Sport Trafficking, co-authored by Mission 89, Loughborough University, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK – a milestone in evidence-based safeguarding.
A powerful panel session featuring Ashleigh Plumptre (Nigerian Women’s National Team) and Katriina Talaslahti (Finnish Women’s National Team), who shared the athlete’s perspective on gender-based risk, power imbalance, and the need for structural protection.
Insights from FIFA, UN diplomats, human rights experts, and parliamentarians, who explored legal identity, policy innovation, and the role of sport governing bodies in prevention.
A powerful call to scale the hashtag#NotInOurGame campaign across high-risk sporting nations, especially in the lead-up to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 and FIFA World Cup 2026.

This event wasn’t just a conversation. It was a commitment to collective action.

Read the Global Thematic Report here.

Safeguarding Youth Sports & Preparing for a Safe & Inclusive Asian Youth Games

This week, I had the pleasure of covering a presentation at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) webinar on “Safeguarding Youth Sports & Preparing for a Safe & Inclusive Asian Youth Games”. The presentation was due to have been delivered by Claudia Villa Hughes, Head of Safeguarding at Head of Safeguarding at Centre for Sport and Human Rights and was titled “NOC Local to Global Safeguarding”.

Claudia messaged me late on Monday afternoon to ask if I could cover for her with the presentation due the next morning as she had been immediately deployed to provide support during last week’s Middle East Crisis.

Of course, I was happy to help out and it was a privilege to be presenting alongside Gloria Viseras OLY, IOC Senior Manager Safeguarding- Health, Medicine and Science, Marie-Laure Lemineur, FIFA Head of Safeguarding and Child Protection, and Hera Liew, Chief Strategy & Engagement Officer, Asian Safeguarding in Sports Network. Claudia’s presentation focused on the responsibilities of NOC’s led by their Chef de Missions in creating a safe team environment at major events such as the forthcoming Asian Youth Games.

Thank you to Claudia for entrusting me with this task and to Sabine Fakhoury at the Olympic Council of Asia for easing me into the webinar.

RESOURCES

Safeguarding; What Sport Needs to Know Podcast

The legal firm, Bird and Bird, has introduced a new sports podcast series - ‘Safeguarding – what sport needs to know’.

Hosted by Richard Bush, the podcasts will address safeguarding in sport practice and feature a variety of expert guests as they unpack the key issues, challenges and real-world developments shaping safeguarding and safeguarding regulation in sport.

There will be discussions on how to support victims/complainants/survivors in case management procedures, the work of governing bodies, the approach of different jurisdictions, and more - the podcast will cover what matters and why.

Whatever your role in sport, if you are concerned about safeguarding in sport, this series offers the insights you need to stay informed, proactive and at the forefront of matters relating to safeguarding and safeguarding regulation in sport.

The first episode “Partnering for protection” features Mhairi Maclennan, CEO at Kyniska Advocacy, and Tom Solesbury OLY, COO and General Counsel at UK Athletics, discussing matters including UK Athletics' approach to safeguarding, the groundbreaking collaboration between Kyniska Advocacy and UK Athletics to support athletes and improve safeguarding practices, what the aims of safeguarding cases should be, and what outcomes they might hope to achieve.

You can listen to the podcast here:

Safe Sport Project; A Call for a Bold New Approach and Vision for Safe Sport in the UK

A bold new approach to ensure the safety of everyone involved in sport at all levels across the United Kingdom is needed, according to a major new report published today.

The Safe Sport report is the result of a project involving us and the other home nation Sports Councils, UK Sport and many national governing bodies of sport (NGBs).

Led by Sarah Powell and Andy Salmon, the chief executive officers (CEOs) of British Gymnastics and Swim England respectively, the project emerged from a shared recognition of the challenges faced by our sector in keeping people safe.

The report has five recommendations, which are:

Organisations should adopt an agreed set of design principles for a comprehensive and integrated safe sport system and culture.
Develop and implement a clear framework for safe sport across the UK.
Establish a new independent body to provide leadership and coordination for safe sport in the UK.
Establish an independent complaint and resolution function across the UK to provide a trusted, trauma-informed and safe process to support complaints, respondents and NGBs to manage significant, sensitive and complex cases.
Undertake a review of all current funding and delivery into safe sport to ensure it’s having the maximum effect and is coordinated.

You can download the report here.

What is Safeguarding in Sport

Safeguarding in sport isn’t just about policies or procedures — it’s about people.
It’s about creating safe environments where everyone, from elite athletes to grassroots participants, can thrive without fear of violence, harassment or abuse. Read Ian Ireland’s article in the latest blog from Safe Sport International.

Read the article here.

ECP Safeguarding; Robust Safeguarding Culture Tool

Does your organisation building a robust safeguarding culture?

Download the ECP’s FREE Robust Safeguarding Cultures Toolkit – designed to support organisations in evaluating and strengthening their safeguarding systems, behaviours and culture. Whether you're in education, health, social care or the voluntary sector, this toolkit offers clear guidance to reflect on current practice and lead improvement.

An essential resource for DSLs, senior leaders, and safeguarding leads, that you can download here.

Lesotho National Olympic Committee Poster

NEWS

Cameroon; Referee Headbutts Isohsa Captain after Controversial Penalty

The referee, Bomba Martin, of the match between Isosha de Limbe and Apejes de Mfou at the MTN Elite Two Playoffs in Cameroon, violently headbutted one of the Limbe club's players, Arrey Jefter. In return, Jefter responded with a kick before being stretchered off the field to receive medical treatment. The incident occurred as players protested a controversial penalty.

Raising Awareness of GBV and Safeguarding in Swahili

Joyce Khoy Okonji, Football Kenya Federation Women Representative from Kiambu Branch addressing Women in Sport in Kiambu Branch on Safeguarding and Gender Based Awareness in Swahili language.

No single party’ can tackle social media abuse in sport – Signify

Signify co-founder Jonathan Sebire says various measures by different entities are required to tackle social media abuse in sport. The growing issue of sportspeople being sent abuse via social media cannot be solved by a single entity and instead requires a multipronged approach, according to the industry expert.

Read this article here.