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Read the latest news on child safeguarding in football. Should you have relevant news to share, please contact us on our Contact page or write on the forum.
On World Children’s Day, 20 November 2023, UEFA published its Competition-specific Child and Youth Protection Guidelines. Football competitions include larger number of children and young people at different levels. Adults may need to take…
On the occasion of International Children’s Day, marked on 1 June, the Lithuanian version of UEFA’s child safeguarding courses, prepared by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), have been launched. UEFA, in collaboration with Terre des…
On 31 March 2023, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) presented its first Protocol for the protection of children and adolescents. The board of directors chaired by Luis Rubiales has approved, in its last session, a text that aims to make…
On 9 February 2023, the Albanian Football Association (AFA) and Terre des hommes Albania (Tdh) signed a cooperation agreement in the field of child protection in football, in line with UEFA's initiative to develop national child protection…
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) is developing, together with UEFA, a program for the protection of children in football, to work towards the creation of safe spaces for underage athletes. As part of the development process of this…
The Ukrainian Association of Football continues to work on raising the awareness of people working with children's protection in football. Thus, the relevant module is included in the UAF "Diploma D" and UEFA "Diploma C" educational programs. On…
In December 2022, the Albanian Football Association (AFA) in partnership with Terre des hommes Albania organised a training session on “Child Safeguarding in Football”. Since a long time, the AFA has been committed to developing and implementing its…
The first UEFA Child and Youth Protection Summit took place on 17-18 November in Tubize (Belgium), at the Royal Belgian Football Association's (RBFA) new headquarters. Forty-nine UEFA member association’s child and youth protection officers were…
The Gibraltar Football Association, in collaboration with the English Football Association, has produced a series of documents to assist all its stakeholders in developing safeguarding policies, sending the clear message that safeguarding…
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) not only includes the right for children to be protected from violence, it means that children have the right to have their opinions taken into account in matters that affect…
Common Goal and the UEFA Foundation for Children have launched an online course to build capacity in safeguarding among sport for development actors. Throughout the world, more and more organisations are using sport as an effective tool for…
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…
The Estonian Football Association (EJL) developed a handbook of guidelines aimed at clubs and people who are active in football on a daily basis, including children and their parents. This is the first such extensive handbook, focused on the…
‘Strength through Unity’ aims to inspire, activate and accelerate collective action to respect human rights and the environment within the context of European football through to 2030. UEFA has announced the launch of its innovative Football…
The whole of football in England – at every level – joined forces to promote ‘Play Safe’, a national campaign to focus attention on the vital importance of safeguarding in football.  Play Safe is officially supported by the NSPCC and will run…
Dear members and visitors of the UEFA child safeguarding platform, On 20 November, we celebrate World Children’s Day – an occasion to advocate for, promote and celebrate children’s rights. On that day in 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the…
On the occasion of the World Children’s Day, the French Football Federation announced the strengthening of its actions towards the protection of its two million licensees, including one million young people under the age of 18. Read the…
The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) in cooperation with UEFA and the children’s aid organisation Terre des hommes launched the “For Safe Football” project to strengthen child safeguarding in football. Within the project, the UEFA online courses…
Over the past six months, the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) has participated in the UEFA child safeguarding mentoring programme. This pilot project, which was implemented with the support of the international children’s aid organisation…
Following several safeguarding concerns in sport and physical activity, this conference will support senior leaders to create a safe culture About this event Sport England, The Football Association and the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit…
The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) is one of the eleven UEFA member associations that were selected to participate in the UEFA child safeguarding mentoring programme. UEFA and Terre des hommes (Tdh) launched the six-month long pilot programme…
The Football Association of Moldova (FAM) in partnership with Terre des hommes Moldova is implementing the project “SAFE FOOTBALL FOR CHILDREN IN MOLDOVA”, funded by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) under the UEFA Football and…
The Romanian Football Federation launched this April the National Football Academy (NFA), which aims to become the most significant provider of educational programs in sports in Romania. The Academy plans to build capacity through specialised…
From October 2020 to March 2021, UEFA and Terre des hommes ran three in-depth child safeguarding workshops for national football associations. A total of 54 national associations enrolled specialists, child safeguarding focal points, in the…
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has taken the initiative to translate the child safeguarding online courses developed by UEFA and Terre des hommes into Dutch. This allows them to promote the e-learnings in the Belgian Football clubs,…
FIFA Guardians™ develops first-ever global safeguarding in sport education programme New FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Sport Diploma aims to professionalise the role of safeguarding officers and raise safeguarding standards Programme available…
The Liechtenstein Football Association and the Liechtenstein Olympic Committee are committed to continuously focus strongly on the issue of child safeguarding. To this end, the two sports associations have now signed a declaration of commitment.…
Join a series of webinars organised by the Council of Europe to find out how different countries in Europe have set up their child safeguarding strategies and roles. Effective child safeguarding policies are essential to prevent and…
The UEFA child safeguarding platform has recently undergone a few changes.  From now on, all learners who complete an online course on this platform will receive a certificate. Previously, only users with a UEFA, national football association…
The protection of children in football is a priority at international and national level, and the need to implement a child safeguarding policy in the football environment is promoted. Every child has the right to practice football in a safe and…
A wide range of programmes ensure UEFA continues to encourage new players to take up the sport. We look at six key initiatives. UEFA will invest €44 million into grassroots football development over the next four years, providing its national…
From 10 to 14 August 2020, 48 volunteer leaders and coaches from the Open Fun Football Schools in Moldova participated in two seminars, organised in cooperation with the Moldovan Football Federation, Cross Cultures, General Police Inspectorate of…
Children have the right to participate in sport in a safe and enjoyable environment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The International Safeguards for Children in Sport initiative declared 8 August to be Safer Sport Day, aiming…
Keeping Children Safe 2020 Summit will take place between 5 and 9 October 2020. Register today and join global child safeguarding practitioners, academics and experts to get immersed in the latest research. Find answers to challenges you face…
Following the recent launch of the #SafeHome campaign, a joint initiative by FIFA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission to support women and children at risk of domestic violence, FIFA representatives joined…
This article by Richard Bush "sets out the key aspects of the FIFA Guardians toolkit, providing some commentary on the document and some further steps that international governing bodies might see fit to take in respect of safeguarding and…
To "keep children safe in sports" means to prevent and respond to any form by which the child can be negatively affected – emotionally, verbally or physically – during physical training or when they practice performance or…
In October 2019, Terre des hommes (Tdh) launched a unique European project, aimed at promoting child safeguarding policies in sports settings in Romania and Greece, as a means to protect and safeguard children. Through this project, Tdh has…
In October 2019, Terre des hommes was launching a unique European project, aimed to promote child safeguarding policies in sports settings in Romania and Greece, in partnership with Tdh Hungary,  as a means to protect and safeguard children.…
Sport must be a safe, positive and enjoyable experience for all children, especially to achieve protection outcomes in sport for development projects. We love sport! It is not an exaggeration when we say that the majority of humans love sport and…
Children face violence and abuse everyday; every fourth girl in Jamaica and every fifth girl in Europe has been a victim of sexual harassment. Unfortunately, sport is one of the most common areas where violence against and abuse of children…
The “Start to Talk” campaign was launched by the Council of Europe to fight against the abuse of children in sports. Sport is a good way to learn how to be resilient, how to cope with failures and how to be a team member, but it can create a…
The article below was written by Maddie Grounds, content writer for the Immigration Advice Service, an organisation of immigration solicitors that help undocumented migrants to regulate their status in the UK.  The views expressed are that of…
Kupakwashe Desmond Mukurumbira, Board Member of UNICEF, has written a piece on key relationships in safeguarding in sports. It outlines seven key relationships which safeguarding in sport experts should understand, manage and develop for successful…
The European week of sports celebrates its 5th edition this year; and 2019 brings a success story – after a long struggle with documentation, the first refugee in Greece got the official authorisation to play professional football.…
Soccer chief Gordon Taylor was told of horrific child abuse 20 years ago by a victim of football scout Eddie Heath, but wrote back telling him to ‘seek counselling’. Non-recent child abuse, sometimes called historical abuse, is when an adult was…
Terre des hommes Moldova provided training on child protection systems and safeguarding policy in sports during a seminar for teachers, leaders, and coaches under the ‘Open Fun Football Schools’ (OFFS) project and ‘Sport - School – Police’ (SSP)…
A report by Charles Geekie QC said chief scout Eddie Heath had groomed and attacked boys, aged 10 to 17, in the 1970s and it alleges that Chelesea officials must have "turned a blind eye to what they saw". Chelsea have now apologised “…
BBC Sports reports that UEFA has contacted the Scottish FA about historic child sexual abuse. The SFA in turn has commissioned an independent review into the matter in 2017 which came back with 100 recommendations. UEFA made a statement that they…
Bob Higgins, 66, from Southampton, was found guilty last year of one count of indecent assault, and a further 45 counts in a retrial at Bournemouth Crown Court. The trials heard that Higgins abused his position of power over young players to take…