Safeguarding Dashboard
Your central hub for child protection in football
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The 5 Core Principles
Key Statistics
Safeguarding Officer Wellbeing
Supporting the people who support children
Qualities of an Effective SO
Common Challenges
SOs often work alone. Seek peer networks and supervision.
Exposure to distressing disclosures causes vicarious trauma. Regular debrief is essential.
Culture change is slow. Document your efforts and escalate formally when blocked.
Your role is to receive, assess and refer. Investigating or providing therapy is not part of your remit.
Self-Care Strategies
Regular Supervision
Schedule monthly check-ins with your line manager or an external supervisor to debrief on cases and manage stress.
Peer Support Network
Connect with SOs at other clubs or through your national association. Shared experience reduces isolation.
Clear Boundaries
Define your working hours, out-of-hours protocol, and handover procedures. Sustainable practice protects children long-term.
Written Records
Detailed records protect you if decisions are questioned and help you process complex cases objectively.
Training Currency
Refreshing your knowledge annually reduces anxiety about knowing "the right answer" and keeps practice evidence-based.
Celebrate Wins
Policy adoption, a child feeling heard, a coach changing their behaviour: these outcomes matter. Acknowledge them.
Types of Abuse
Recognising the forms harm can take in a football context
Physical Abuse
Hitting, kicking, shaking, burning, or otherwise causing physical harm. This includes excessive physical training used as punishment.
- Excessive "conditioning" used as punishment
- Hitting a child during training
- Forcing a child to play through serious injury
Emotional / Psychological Abuse
Persistent behaviour causing severe adverse effects on a child's emotional development, including humiliation, threats, rejection, and constant criticism.
- Consistently demeaning a player's ability
- Using fear and intimidation as motivation
- Publicly humiliating a child in front of teammates
Sexual Abuse
Forcing or enticing a child into sexual activities, including non-contact activities such as showing pornography or sexual messaging.
- Inappropriate touching during physiotherapy
- Sharing sexual images or messages
- Grooming through a position of trust
Neglect
Persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs, resulting in serious impairment of health or development.
- Not providing adequate nutrition/hydration
- Ignoring injury or medical needs
- Failing to provide appropriate supervision
Additional Categories in Sport
Hazing / Initiation
Rituals that humiliate, demean, or harm new members, often normalised within team culture. All forms are unacceptable.
Bullying & Harassment
Repeated intimidation, exclusion, or harassment by peers or adults. Includes cyberbullying via team messaging apps.
Institutional Abuse
When organisational culture or failures create an environment where abuse is enabled, ignored, or covered up.
Signs & Indicators
Behavioural and physical indicators to watch for
Physical Indicators
- Unexplained injuries — bruises, burns, fractures
- Injuries inconsistent with the given explanation
- Injuries in unusual locations (torso, back, buttocks)
- Multiple injuries at different stages of healing
- Signs of poor nutrition or inadequate clothing
- Frequent tiredness or falling asleep during training
- Untreated or recurring injuries being played through
Behavioural Indicators
- Sudden change in behaviour or performance
- Withdrawal from team activities or friendships
- Unexplained fear of a particular adult or place
- Reluctance to undress or use changing facilities
- Age-inappropriate sexual knowledge or behaviour
- Regressive behaviour (bedwetting, thumb-sucking)
- Running away or not wanting to go home
- Low self-esteem, self-harm, or suicidal statements
Context Indicators
- Adult spending excessive one-to-one time with a child
- Adult giving gifts or special privileges
- Adult communicating with children via private channels
- Adult photographing children without clear consent
- Child seeking out physical contact with adults
- Child disclosing then retracting a disclosure
When to Act
Child in immediate danger, serious injuries, or direct disclosure of recent abuse
Child has disclosed, shows signs of significant harm, or inappropriate adult behaviour observed
Persistent pattern of indicators or repeated minor incidents involving the same adult
Grooming Tactics
Understanding how abuse is enabled, so it can be prevented
The Sliding Scale of Concern
Red Flags in Football
- Coach insisting on one-to-one sessions in private spaces
- Adult using a "special relationship" narrative with a player
- Giving lifts without parent knowledge or agreement
- Messaging children via personal accounts or encrypted apps
- Making promises about selection, trials, or agents
- Photographing or filming changing areas
- Taking children away overnight without proper consent
- Dismissing parental concerns or excluding parents
Organisational Grooming
Abusers don't just groom children. They groom organisations too. Warning signs include:
- Staff member always first to volunteer for child-related tasks
- Resistance to safeguarding policies or supervision
- Creating dependency: "only I can do this job"
- Seeking excessive trust and authority
- Discrediting children who raise concerns
- Cultivating relationships with influential adults who will vouch for them
Vulnerable Groups
Understanding additional risk factors and intersectionality
Children with Disabilities
3–4× more likely to experience abuse. May rely on personal care, have communication differences, or be taught to comply. Ensure alternative disclosure methods.
Elite Youth Athletes
High-performance environments create power imbalances. Fear of deselection suppresses disclosure. Residential academies require additional safeguards.
Girls & Young Women
Higher risk of sexual harassment and abuse, often in male-dominated environments. Ensure female-specific spaces and reporting routes.
LGBTQ+ Young People
Homophobia in football culture creates hostile environments. Fear of being "outed" by disclosing. Explicit inclusion in policy is essential.
Ethnic Minorities
Cultural and language barriers to disclosure. Distrust of authorities. Risk of exploitation through migration. Ensure culturally competent responses.
Adults at Risk
Adults with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, or acquired disabilities may also need protection. Adjust procedures accordingly.
Intersectionality
Children rarely belong to just one group. A girl with a disability from an ethnic minority background may face compounded barriers. Effective safeguarding considers the whole child.
Ask yourself:
- Does this child have multiple risk factors?
- Are our reporting routes accessible to this child?
- Do we have appropriate adults to receive disclosures?
- Does our policy explicitly include this child?
Key Statistic
38%
of athletes have experienced psychological violence in sport. This disproportionately affects girls, athletes with disabilities, and those from minority backgrounds.
Why Children Don't Tell
Understanding barriers to disclosure builds better support
Emotional Barriers
Practical Barriers
Creating a Disclosure-Friendly Environment
Visible Safeguarding
Post the SO's name, photo, and contact details in changing rooms, noticeboards, and the club website.
Multiple Reporting Routes
Not every child will tell the SO. Offer options: trusted adult, anonymous feedback, phone line, text system.
Child-Friendly Language
Regularly tell children in age-appropriate language that it's okay to tell, nothing is their fault, and they will be believed.
Disclosure Guide
How to respond when a child tells you something
The REACT Framework
Listen calmly. Stay composed. Don't show shock or disbelief. Give the child your full attention.
"I believe you." "Thank you for telling me." "You were right to tell me." "This is not your fault."
Don't ask leading questions. Don't promise outcomes. Don't investigate. Don't express anger at the alleged abuser in front of the child.
Only if needed for immediate safety: "Can you tell me a little more?" Use open questions only. Stop when you have enough to report.
Tell the child what will happen next. Report to the SO (or if you are the SO, to statutory authorities). Record what was said immediately.
What to Say
What NOT to Say
How to Respond to a Concern
The safeguarding response pathway
Identify the concern
A child has disclosed, you have observed something, or a third party has reported. The concern relates to possible abuse, neglect, or inappropriate adult behaviour.
Ensure immediate safety
If the child is in immediate danger, call emergency services. If urgent medical attention is needed, seek it without delay — don't wait for procedures.
Refer to the Safeguarding Officer
If you are not the SO, report to them immediately. Do not investigate. Pass on exactly what was observed or disclosed — in your words, not your interpretation.
SO assesses and refers
The SO evaluates the concern and refers to statutory agencies. For allegations against staff, inform the national association and follow suspension protocol.
Record everything
Record what happened, what was said, who was told, and what action was taken. Factual, non-interpretive language. Store securely with restricted access.
Incident Report Form
Complete as soon as possible. Record what was said and observed, not your interpretation.
Case Management
Managing safeguarding concerns from referral to closure
Threshold for Action
The 9 Stages of Case Management
Concern received by SO: verbal, written, or direct disclosure
Document immediately using factual, verbatim language. Secure storage.
Initial triage: level of risk, immediate safety needs, and threshold for referral
Refer to statutory agencies if threshold is met. Always confirm in writing.
Provide information to investigators as requested. No parallel investigation.
Ensure child and family have access to appropriate support throughout
If allegation involves a staff member, suspend from all child contact pending investigation
After statutory investigation, review what happened and what the club needs to learn
Closure only after confirmation from statutory agencies. Retain records per policy.
Investigation Principles
- Do not investigate. Your role is to receive and refer.
- Preserve evidence. Don't wash clothing, delete messages, or move items.
- One account only. Avoid asking the child to repeat their account multiple times.
- Natural justice. The alleged perpetrator should be informed, but only by authorities. This is not the club's role.
- No parallel investigation while statutory investigation is ongoing.
Case Recording Format
Good case records are clear, factual, and retrievable.
Safeguarding Policy Generator
Create a customised safeguarding policy for your organisation
Safeguarding Steering Group
Building governance structures that embed safeguarding into organisational culture
Purpose of the Steering Group
A safeguarding steering group provides organisational oversight. It is not a case management body. Its focus is on systems, culture, and accountability.
- Approve and review safeguarding policy
- Ensure adequate resources for safeguarding
- Monitor training compliance across the organisation
- Review anonymised incidents and near-misses
- Commission regular safeguarding audits
- Report to the board on safeguarding performance
Recommended Membership
Standing Agenda
Five-Step Safeguarding Framework
A systematic approach to building safeguarding capacity
Policy & Procedures
Document your commitment with a clear, accessible policy. Define procedures for reporting, responding, and recording concerns.
People
Appoint a Designated Safeguarding Officer with clear authority. Ensure all staff are vetted and aware of their responsibilities.
Prevention
Create environments that prevent abuse. Implement codes of conduct, safe physical environments, and communication protocols.
Training & Awareness
Equip all staff, volunteers, parents, and players with appropriate safeguarding knowledge. Maintain records and renewal schedules.
Reporting & Review
Maintain clear reporting systems and review safeguarding practice regularly. Learn from incidents, near-misses, and audits.
Coaches' Charter
Defining child-centred coaching principles and generating a charter for your club
Harmful Coaching Practices to Avoid
- Using humiliation or public criticism as motivation
- Physical contact without consent or necessity
- Communicating with players via personal social media accounts
- Spending excessive one-to-one time with individual players
- Using fear of deselection as a control mechanism
- Ignoring injuries or pressuring players to train through pain
- Making promises about trials, agents, or professional contracts
- Photographing players without explicit consent processes
Child-Centred Coaching Principles
- Every player's dignity is respected at all times
- Development of the whole person, not just the footballer
- Feedback is constructive, specific, and encouraging
- Players feel safe to make mistakes and ask questions
- Playing time and decisions are explained transparently
- Open communication channels with parents/guardians
- Coach models the behaviour expected of players
- Safeguarding is integrated into all coaching decisions
Charter Generator
Training Plan Builder
Build a needs-based safeguarding training programme for your organisation
Three Training Levels
Essentials
For all staff and volunteers with any contact with children
- What is safeguarding?
- Recognising signs of abuse
- How to respond to a disclosure
- Who to report concerns to
- Code of conduct
Intermediate
For coaches, team managers, and staff with regular child contact
- All Level 1 content
- Types of abuse in depth
- Grooming tactics
- Safer coaching practices
- Safeguarding vulnerable groups
Role-Specific / Specialist
For Safeguarding Officers, board leads, and senior staff
- All Level 1 & 2 content
- Case management procedures
- Working with statutory agencies
- Conducting a TNA
- Safeguarding governance
Training Needs Matrix
Tournament & Event Safeguarding
Ensuring child safety at competitions and away events
Event Safeguarding Roles
Safeguarding Plan Areas
- Pre-event risk assessment and venue inspection
- Named safeguarding contact published to all teams
- Welfare reporting process communicated to all
- Photography and media policy enforced throughout
- Supervision ratios maintained (min. 1:8 for under-12s)
- Parental consent forms for residential/away events
- Emergency contacts held for all participants
- Safe accommodation standards (single-sex, secure)
Event Safeguarding Checklist
Organisational Self-Assessment
FIFA Affiliated Member (FAM) Baseline Questionnaire: Parts A to E
Child Rights in Football
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a foundation for safeguarding
What is a Rights-Based Approach?
A child rights approach goes beyond simply preventing harm. It frames every child as a rights-holder: someone entitled to protection, participation, and development, not just a potential victim to be managed.
Football has enormous reach. FIFA estimates it connects with 5 billion people globally. That reach means football organisations have both the opportunity and the responsibility to be rights-enablers, not rights-violators.
The 4 Core Principles (UNCRC)
Key UNCRC Articles for Safeguarding Officers
In all actions concerning children, whether by courts, institutions, or organisations, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
Children have the right to express their views freely on matters affecting them, and those views must be given due weight.
States must protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, or maltreatment by anyone in a position of care.
Children have the right to rest, play, and engage in recreational and cultural activities appropriate to their age, including sport.
States must protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, including coercion into any sexual activity.
Children must be protected against all forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of their welfare, including exploitation by coaches or agents.
Adults at Risk
Safeguarding is not limited to children. Adults may also be at risk due to:
- Physical or learning disability
- Mental health conditions
- Age-related vulnerability
- Dependency on others for care
- Social isolation
- Language barriers or immigration status
The same child protection principles apply. The key question is: does this person have the capacity to protect themselves? If not, they need safeguarding support.
Football as a Rights Enabler
Football can both enable and violate child rights. Your role is to tip the balance firmly toward enabling:
- Children participate in safe, age-appropriate environments
- Children are consulted about their training and welfare
- Coaches treat all players with equal dignity
- Safeguarding is visible and approachable
- Children are selected purely for performance
- Physical or emotional abuse is tolerated as "tough coaching"
- Safeguarding concerns are silenced to protect reputation
- Children have no voice in decisions about their welfare
Codes of Conduct
Setting clear behavioural expectations for every role in your organisation
Why Codes of Conduct Matter
A code of conduct is a set of written expectations that define acceptable and unacceptable behaviour for a specific role. They are one of the most powerful tools for preventing abuse in sport because they:
- Set a clear standard before incidents occur
- Give the SO grounds for disciplinary action
- Signal to perpetrators that inappropriate behaviour will be noticed
- Empower children and parents to challenge boundary violations
- Create a culture where "that's just how coaches are" is not acceptable
Who Needs a Code?
Core Components of a Coaches' Code of Conduct
Only appropriate, necessary contact with parental consent. No contact in areas covered by swimwear. Avoid one-to-one situations.
All digital communication via club channels. No private messaging with players. Parents/guardians copied on any individual messages.
No romantic or sexual relationships with players. Maintain professional boundaries at all times, including on social media.
No abusive, discriminatory, or demeaning language. No humiliating players in front of peers. Positive, constructive coaching only.
No personal photography of players. Use only club-approved devices and platforms. Obtain parental consent before sharing any images.
Never share accommodation with a player. Always use approved chaperone arrangements. Follow club overnight travel policy.
Codes as a Grooming Prevention Tool
Many grooming behaviours can look innocent in isolation. Codes of conduct make these patterns visible and actionable:
Enforcement & Breach Process
Influencing Others
Building the case for safeguarding, mapping your allies, and navigating resistance
Why Advocacy is Part of Your Role
Being a Safeguarding Officer is not just about responding to incidents — it's about building an organisational culture where safeguarding is embedded. That requires influencing people who may be resistant, indifferent, or too busy.
"Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, but it only becomes real when people with influence — coaches, board members, club presidents — own it."
— FIFA Safeguarding
Common Resistance You'll Face
Stakeholder Mapping
Use the interest × influence grid to prioritise where to invest your energy. Place key people in the quadrant that fits their current position.
Club president, head coach, board safeguarding lead. Work closely with these people.
Executive committee, major sponsors. They need to hear the "risk and reputation" argument.
Parents, players, admin staff. They care deeply — give them information and involve them where possible.
Casual volunteers, match-day helpers. Keep informed of basics; don't over-invest here.
Building Your Safeguarding Ally Network
A safeguarding ally is someone who proactively supports your work, even when it's not formally their job. They champion safeguarding in conversations you're not part of.
Internal allies to cultivate:
- Head coach willing to model correct behaviour
- Board member who asks safeguarding questions at every meeting
- Team manager who notices and reports concerns
External allies to identify:
- National Association Safeguarding Officer
- Local statutory safeguarding board
- Police Child Exploitation & Online Protection unit
- Child protection NGOs and survivor organisations
- Fellow SOs in peer networks
Making the Case to Senior Management
Senior managers respond to language about risk, reputation, and return. Frame your safeguarding ask in those terms:
Failure to implement adequate safeguarding exposes the club to civil liability and criminal prosecution. Insurance may not cover incidents where no policy existed.
One publicised incident can destroy decades of community trust. Safeguarding is a reputational investment, not a cost.
Families choose clubs based on safety. A reputation for strong safeguarding is a recruitment and retention advantage.
FIFA mandates all member associations implement safeguarding frameworks. Non-compliance risks registration and funding consequences.
Risk Assessment Builder
6-step safeguarding risk assessment for activities and events
When to Complete a Risk Assessment
- Any tournament or event involving children
- Overnight travel or residential trips
- New activities or training formats
- Matches at unfamiliar venues
- Events with external coaches or visitors
- Any situation with reduced supervision ratios
- Online sessions or digital activities
The 6 Steps
Build Your Risk Assessment
Standard Risk Areas
Digital Safeguarding
Protecting children in online and digital environments
What Is the Digital World?
The digital world covers all ways people communicate using electronic and online technologies, including:
- Social media: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
- Messaging apps: WhatsApp, Snapchat, Discord
- Video conferencing: Zoom, Microsoft Teams
- Online gaming with open chatrooms (including football video games)
- Mobile phones and tablets used for personal communication
"Online and face-to-face abuse exist on a continuum. Initial contact often starts on social media and then continues in person. The trauma experienced by those abused online is as devastating as any offline abuse."
— FIFA Safeguarding
Key Online Risks for Children
Why Digital Bullying Is More Harmful Than Traditional Bullying
Abusive content can instantly reach a worldwide audience, amplifying humiliation far beyond a single person or place.
Online bullying intrudes into every part of the victim's life around the clock: home, school, and football club alike.
Abusers can hide their identity, emboldening behaviour they would not exhibit face to face.
Digital content is hard to delete once shared. Screenshots persist even after original posts are removed.
A single post can trigger hostile responses from strangers who do not know the victim at all.
Filmed moments (e.g., a player asleep or injured) can be posted without consent, causing reputational damage alongside emotional trauma.
Photography and Images of Children
Images of children can be misused by predators or cause lasting harm when shared without consent. Follow these principles:
Informed Consent for Images
Consent is not simply a general agreement. Informed consent requires documented understanding of all of the following:
Children require consent in a format they can understand, plus separate parental or guardian consent. Many countries have a "right to one's own image" in law, meaning commercial use without consent can carry legal consequences.
Organisational Arrangements for Digital Safety
Policy and Governance
- Develop and promote a clear online safety policy
- Include standards of online behaviour in all codes of conduct
- Ensure policy breaches are investigated and consequences are clear
- Reference UNICEF UK online safety guidelines in your policy documents
FIFA Social Media Protection Service (SMPS)
Available to all 211 FIFA Member Associations. The SMPS protects social media accounts of players, coaches, officials, and teams from hate speech by automatically hiding abusive comments, preventing followers from being exposed to discriminatory posts.
Contact your Member Association to enquire about access to this service.
Online Safety
Practical guidance for safeguarding in online environments (UNICEF UK)
For Children
For Parents and Carers
For Professionals
Online Safety Red Flags
Warning signs in children
Warning signs in adults
Safeguarding Culture
Championing a positive safeguarding culture across your organisation
What Is Culture?
Culture is a collection of assumptions, values, beliefs, behaviours, and practices shared among a group of people. Two crucial facts:
It is not innate or fixed. It is acquired through upbringing, life experience, and the organisations people belong to.
With sustained effort, positive role models, and senior leadership commitment, culture shifts are possible. A Safeguarding Officer cannot do this alone but plays a crucial role.
Harmful vs. Positive Culture
Harmful culture
- "Win at all costs"
- "Coach is always right"
- Rigid top-down hierarchy
- Players viewed as commodities
- Victims not taken seriously
- Reputation over protection
Positive culture
- Child rights as foundation
- Player wellbeing over results
- Inclusive communication
- Players have a voice
- Concerns heard and acted on
- Continual learning and review
Common Features of Harmful Culture (from Independent Investigation Reports)
"Culture change within football is very important. This includes challenging negative attitudes to mental health and distorted thinking about sexual conduct. The main concern always should be to reduce risk to young people and to ensure their protection ahead of the reputational interest of the organisation."
— Scottish Football Independent Review Report (Henry, 2020)
Securing Senior Leadership Buy-In
Senior leaders are often the key to cultural change. When presenting the case to them, use these arguments:
Signs That Leadership "Gets It"
Cultural change is real when you observe these signs organically, without prompting from the Safeguarding Officer:
Making Cultural Change Stick: Priya's Approach
A Safeguarding Officer successfully embedded risk assessments as a standard and expected practice across her organisation. Her step-by-step approach:
Establish the policy with a clear senior leader mandate. Safeguarding cannot be optional or advisory.
Communicate to all relevant staff with guidance, templates, and clear expectations about what is required and when.
Check compliance and quality consistently. Monitoring is not punishment — it shows the organisation takes this seriously.
Persevere in the face of non-compliance. Establish a system that does not allow poor practice to persist without consequence.
Provide supportive, constructive feedback — not just criticism. Acknowledge effort and improvement.
Publicly promote positive practice examples. Make it clear that doing the right thing is recognised and valued.
Child-Centred Practice
Embedding child-centred coaching and culture across your club
Harmful vs. Child-Centred Coaching
Harmful coaching
- Never challenge the coach
- Win at all costs
- No pain, no gain
- Exercise used as punishment
- Players ignored if below standard
- Guilt and shame as motivation
Child-centred coaching
- Coach welcomes questions
- Effort and improvement praised
- Goals explained to players
- Player feedback invited
- All players included
- Empathy and respect modelled
"Be the coach you would want to play for."
— Child-Centred Coaches' Charter
Physical Exercise as Punishment
- Risks injury through over-exertion, especially for developing bodies
- Pushing children to exhaustion or forcing training while injured may constitute physical abuse or criminal behaviour
- Coaches must still apply behavioural sanctions where appropriate
- Sanctions must never endanger health, welfare, or dignity
Case example: A parent complained that after a full match, an exhausted 11-year-old was made to run 10 laps and do 50 press-ups as punishment. The boy vomited and was sent to the changing rooms in disgrace.
— FIFA Safeguarding
Child-Centred Coaches' Charter: Key Commitments
Emphasise fun, teamwork, fair play, and skill improvement. Winning is not the primary goal, especially for younger age groups.
Conduct all sessions in an open, visible environment. No closed doors. Parents and observers are welcome, not a threat.
Praise effort, improvement, and teamwork before individual performance outcomes. This builds resilience and a growth mindset.
Actively include lower-ability players. Do not neglect or sideline them. Every child deserves quality coaching attention.
Develop a code of conduct that explicitly addresses bullying, initiation rituals, and verbal abuse between players and by coaches.
Encourage problem-solving and player-led decision making. Players who think for themselves develop better than those who only follow instructions.
Model empathy and respect players' individual differences in ability, background, culture, and pace of development.
Never use guilt, shame, humiliation, or neglect to motivate or punish. These are emotionally abusive and counter-productive.
Responding to Poor Coaching Practice
When you identify coaching behaviour that is not child-centred:
Whole Club Approach: What Good Looks Like
Child-centred practice is not only for coaches. It is a whole-club commitment. Clubs with strong records include:
No significant financial resources are required to embed this approach. It requires individual and organisational commitment to the principles.
Safer Recruitment
12-step checklist for recruiting staff and volunteers who work with children
Why Safer Recruitment Matters
Research shows that people who seek to harm children often deliberately target organisations with weak screening processes. A robust recruitment process makes your organisation a less attractive target and creates documented evidence of due diligence.
"Safer recruitment is not just about checking boxes — it's about creating a hiring culture where safeguarding is embedded from the very first contact with a candidate."
— FIFA Safeguarding
Key Principles
- Same process for all — paid staff and volunteers, short- and long-term, regardless of how well you know the person
- No exceptions — "but they're a parent" or "we've known them for years" is not a substitute for screening
- Proportionate — supervised, non-contact roles require less intensive checking than unsupervised direct-access roles
- Ongoing — recruitment is not a one-off; behaviour should be monitored throughout employment
- Documented — every step must be recorded, even if the candidate is not appointed
12-Step Safer Recruitment Checklist
Includes safeguarding responsibilities. States that post is subject to background checks. References the club safeguarding policy.
Includes commitment to child protection as an essential criterion. Not optional — make it a requirement for shortlisting.
Safeguarding policy sent to all applicants with the application pack. Sets the tone and deters unsuitable candidates.
Use an application form — not just a CV. Include employment gaps and reasons. Gaps must be explored, not ignored.
Candidate declares any criminal convictions, cautions, or investigations. This is separate from the DBS check and signed under penalty of dismissal if false.
Panel-based shortlisting. Any concern about an application (unexplained gaps, vague responses) must be documented and explored at interview.
At least one safeguarding scenario question for all child-facing roles. "What would you do if a player told you something concerning?" Assess response, not just knowledge.
Minimum two references, one from most recent employer. At least one referee must confirm suitability to work with children. References are taken up BEFORE appointment is confirmed.
Enhanced background check for all child-facing roles. Level of check must match the role. Check must be completed before unsupervised access begins.
For anyone who has lived or worked abroad: additional country-specific check required. FIFA maintains a Sport Integrity database for international staff.
First week includes safeguarding training, reading and signing the policy, and understanding the reporting procedure. Document completion.
Safeguarding behaviour reviewed during probation. Is the person modelling appropriate boundaries? Following the code of conduct? A probationary fail can be for safeguarding reasons.
Retrospective Application
What about existing staff who were appointed before these processes existed?