"With the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup set to take place on Friday, a report examining the participation of athletes convicted of sexual offences at major sporting events has highlighted significant distrust of international sports governing bodies in how they deal with these situations. The report, titled No One Wants to Talk About It, is the result of interviews with elite athletes directly affected by sexual abuse."
"The Sports and Rights Alliance is a coalition that includes Amnesty International, Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, and World Players Union as well as other trade unions and human rights groups. In the report, athletes surveyed claimed a lack of clear safeguarding policies from professional clubs and federations, an absence of transparent standards for competition eligibility, and inconsistent responses from sports organizations to concerns raised by athletes about potential sexual abuse."
Interviews with elite athletes directly affected by sexual abuse reveal significant distrust of international sports governing bodies over handling athletes convicted of sexual offences. Athletes reported institutional inaction, silence, or complicity and inconsistent regulation by organizations including Fifa and the IOC. Athletes cited lack of clear safeguarding policies from professional clubs and federations, absence of transparent eligibility standards, and inconsistent responses to concerns about potential sexual abuse. The Sports and Rights Alliance and Thomas More University in Belgium collaborated on the research. Athletes called for governing bodies to acknowledge the seriousness of abuse concerns alongside other priorities such as playing-surface controversies.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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