English

Assistance for Olympic Movement stakeholders
(IOC athlete safeguarding toolkit)

The IOC has developed athlete-safeguarding policies and procedures, and implements them when the IOC’s direct jurisdiction applies, at the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games.

However, to truly safeguard athlete welfare, it is essential that safeguarding policies and procedures are put in place across the entire Olympic Movement. This includes International Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Federations (NFs).

To facilitate this, the IOC has developed the following tools and initiatives:

The IOC Toolkit for IFs and NOCs

Aimed at creating and implementing policies and procedures to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport (IOC Athlete Safeguarding Toolkit) – 2017

The IOC Guidelines for IFs and NOCs

Aimed at creating and implementing a policy to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport (IOC Athlete Safeguarding Guidelines) – 2016. These guidelines note the minimum requirements for athlete safeguarding policies and procedures and can be used by sports organisations as a benchmark and policy review tool.

Why are athlete safeguarding policies and procedures needed?

  • To protect athletes
  • To protect the integrity of sport and sports organisations
  • To protect those working in sport
  • To promote the values of safe sport

IOC Athlete Safeguarding Toolkit for IFs and NOCs

Released in November 2017, the IOC Athlete Safeguarding Toolkit was created in collaboration with over 50 stakeholders from inside and outside the Olympic Movement, including, athletes, IFs, NOCs and subject matter experts.

The Toolkit is a step-by-step guide which focuses on helping organisations to develop two main policies:

  1. Competition-specific policies and procedures: applicable during any sports competitions sanctioned by the organisation, for example a world cup or national championship for International Federations;
  2. Organisational policies and procedures: they refer to a policy that is in place all year round. It may be intended to safeguard all athletes and individuals who are linked to an organisation.

In recognition that organisational, cultural and logistical differences occur between sports organisations, the IOC Toolkit offers a multi-tiered solutions-based approach to the core components of athlete-safeguarding policies and procedures

Download the toolkit

IOC Athlete Safeguarding Guidelines for IFs and NOCs

The “IOC Guidelines for IFs and NOCs related to creating and implementing a policy to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport” were approved by the IOC Executive Board in July 2016. These Guidelines detail what the IOC considers to be the minimum requirements for athlete-safeguarding policies.

Organisations with safeguarding policies and procedures in place are recommended to review their policies against the IOC Guidelines. The IOC also offers an additional voluntary service of reviewing IF and NOC policies against the IOC Guidelines and providing written feedback.

Download the guidelines