The Italian Football Federation (FIGC), UEFA and Terre des Hommes Italy continue their efforts to provide training for the protection of children and adolescents against abuse, violence and discrimination. The UEFA child safeguarding courses are now available in Italian on UEFA's specialised platform.
Sport plays a fundamental role in the lives of children and young people, who experience important moments of personal and relational growth on the playgrounds. Therefore, it becomes essential for sports clubs to reflect on the theme of child protection and to put coaches, managers, staff, and all adult figures who have educational functions, in a position to guarantee the well-being and safety of young athletes.
For this reason, the FICG created last year a website dedicated to local clubs, where all the available tools to build a professional and safe environment for all children and adolescents can be found. FIGC has also launched a training course aimed at its regional delegates for child safeguarding, who, thanks to a team of specialised psychologists and jurists, receive specific knowledge and adequate tools to identify signs of discomfort, manage inappropriate behaviour within a group (bullying, cyberbullying, racism, use of alcohol and drugs, discrimination based on gender, etc.), as well as to manage the very delicate reporting of any abuses.
The training course is part of a memorandum of understanding between Terre des Hommes Italy and the Italian Football Federation which sees the two realities also involved in the fight against gender discrimination and the promotion of equality and female empowerment, central themes in a historic campaign, which Terre des Hommes has been carrying out for years.
Furthermore, FIGC worked together with the Swiss Football Association to launch the Italian version of the interactive online training courses on the UEFA child safeguarding platform, aimed at anyone who works with minors in the world of football or is interested in this topic.