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COP in Sports

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BaCKGROUND

Sport plays a significant role in children’s lives. It provides children with a social circle outside of school and an opportunity to make new friendships, which contributes to children’s well-being and happiness, besides physical health. The existing child protection frameworks of sports organizations do not include comprehensive child online protection strategies that protect children from online risks and harmful practices to which they are exposed. Due to their close connections with children, sports organizations are in a place where they can provide children with guidance, advice, and support regarding their use of digital space and protection from potential online risks. Thus, the role of sports organizations in protecting children online is crucial.  

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​​​PARTNERSHIP

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Developed in partnership with the SCORT Foundation and with the contribution of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, Coaches Across Continents, Insafe, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Child Protection in Sport Unit, the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the UK Safer Internet Centre, and the UEFA Foundation for children jointly with Common Goal, the policy brief on Child Online Protection in Sports is geared toward sports organizations: sports clubs and associations at the grassroots and professional levels. 
This new resource provides clear recommendations for sports organizations to support them in addressing online risks, tackling violence against children, and promoting the safe use of digital tools and services.

The policy brief is accessible here.

COP IN SPORTS INITIATIVE


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​​ITU and the SCORT Foundation have partnered in 2020 to work towards embedding Child Online Protection in Sport. 
Since then, the c​ollaboration has yielded webinars and trainings, various panel discussions and roundtables on how COP plays a role in sports environments along with what challenges exist and what gaps COP in Sports could bridge. At its core, the collaboration seeks to emphasize the importance of child protection and empowerment online and offline in and through sports and ICTs.
The COP in Sports initiative focuses on children’s rights online in sports with the main areas of consideration: 
• Child online protection frameworks, including policies, guidelines, and principles;
• Capacity building & awareness raising, including trainings on child safeguarding, digital skills development programs, etc.; 
• Reporting and response mechanisms to tackle online violence against children in sports. 


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