European Athletics is responsible for promoting athletics in Europe and for making it a safe environment for everyone involved in the sport and has launched its Safeguarding Policy to help ensure this.
The Safeguarding Policy can be accessed and downloaded here.
The Safeguarding Policy was approved at the recent European Athletics Council meeting that was held between of 6-9 May in Munich with the guiding principles of preventing harassment, abuse and exploitation in athletics.
A key component of this policy is supporting the European Athletics Member Federations in creating or reviewing their own national safeguarding policies with a view to implementing the measures outlined by European Athletics by the end of 2023.
“Safeguarding is instrumental to our sport, Athletics is a place where we should be able to express our passion and feel safe regardless of our role,” commented European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov.
“We took a clear stand by conditioning our funding for Member Federations to their commitment to have their own safeguarding policy in place as soon as possible and start its implementation by the end of 2023, and we will also support our Member Federations to succeed in this endeavour.”
The European Athletics Safeguarding Programme ensures the implementation of a twin-pillar strategy based on European Athletics’ own commitments and its commitments toward the European Athletics Member Federations.
European Athletics has adopted the World Athletics Safeguarding Policy, is currently updating the EAA Code of Ethics as well as upgrading its reporting platform and has created a set of Safeguarding Principles to ensure the safe delivery of our sport in Europe.
European Athletics support for its Member Federations includes raising awareness of safeguarding issues by providing prevention and educational activities via its communication campaigns and also establishing forums during various events including the European Athletics Convention, the Young Leaders Forum, and the CEO Conference.
European Athletics Executive Board Member Karin Grute Movin, who is also the Chair of the Safeguarding Working Group, highlighted the work of both groups in their efforts to make athletics safe.
“It is the time for European Athletics to lead by example as an Area Association and to provide adequate support to our Member Federations so that together we can reach the 2023 target for delivering a safer sport and a better environment in which to participate in athletics,” said Grute Movin.
Everyone in the European Athletics family is responsible for ensuring that no one suffers abuse, harassment, or exploitation.
If anyone has any suspicion that abuse, harassment, or exploitation occurred to someone they should report it through the dedicated and confidential European Athletics Integrity Platform (which can be accessed here).
This Platform is fully secured and independent from European Athletics and reports can be made anonymously.