Public Opinion is Clear: Urgent Legislation Required to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation! Read the story

Safeguarding children in football – UEFA child safeguarding toolkit

Posted on May 18, 2020

Terre des hommes (Tdh) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have joined efforts to develop a Europe-wide child safeguarding programme aimed at providing a safe and positive experience for all children and young people who play football. Read more here.

UEFA child safeguarding policy is available here. 
The toolkit is available here.

Sport events and the protection of children from sexual exploitation was part of the discussion convened by the Council of Europe during the first International Summit on Child Protection in Travel and Tourism, it concluded that:

  • The sexual exploitation of children doesn’t only take place in mega sporting events, but also within smaller sports clubs and both boys and girls can become victims.
  • A zero-tolerance policy toward the sexual exploitation of children needs to be adopted by all sports clubs. Child protection policies should be introduced by all sports organizations.
  • To holistically address this issue, greater effort is needed and training needs to be provided to staff working in sports clubs.
  • Governments need to implement international standards and ensure that all sport movements implement them. All stakeholders, including grass-root sports organizations, must team up to create a culture of zero-tolerance towards the sexual exploitation of children.

Sport is powerful, it is a driver for a positive change.

Read the report from the International Summit on Child Protection in Travel and Tourism here.
Read about the child safeguarding programme and toolkit – FIFA Guardians here.