“New approach needed” to ensure safety in sport

A “bold new approach” is needed to ensure the safety of everyone involved in sport at all levels across the UK. That is the main finding from the first-ever Safe Sport report – a major project involving UK Sport, Sport England, sportscotland, Sport NI, Sport Wales and several national governing bodies of sport (NGBs) – which was published this week.

The report is part of the wider Safe Sport project, which stems from a UK Sport change programme focused on ensuring the long-term sustainability of British Olympic and Paralympic sports, addressing key challenges and areas for reform within the sporting system.

One of the areas identified was a consistent approach to safe sport in the UK, from elite and performance sport to community and grassroots settings.

In a join statement, the five CEOs of UK Sport (Sally Munday), Sport England (Tim Hollingsworth), Sport Northern Ireland (Richard Archibald, interim), SportScotland (Forbes Dunlop) and Sport Wales (Brian Davies), said: ”Everyone taking part in sport should have a safe and positive experience that is free from harm of any kind. We are grateful to all involved in the Safe Sport project for their work.

“We will continue our shared commitment to prioritising and shifting resources towards programmes that prevent harm, rather than react to harm, and will work with NGBs to do the same.”