Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport
Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport is a podcast that explores safeguarding in sport — what it means, how it is understood, and how it is applied in practice. Safeguarding has become a priority across sport, shaped by increased investment, research, and high-profile failures. Yet despite this attention, safeguarding remains complex, contested, and often misunderstood. This podcast takes a step back. Across more than ten episodes, Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport examines safeguarding in sport one concept at a time. The series questions definitions, challenges assumptions, and explores how safeguarding frameworks, policies, and practices affect athletes, organisations, and sport systems in the real world. The podcast focuses on deeper understanding — asking what effective, ethical, and meaningful safeguarding and athlete welfare truly look like. This podcast is for: • People working in sport (governance, policy, welfare, coaching). • Athletes and participants at all levels. • Researchers, students, and practitioners. • Anyone seeking a clearer and more critical understanding of safeguarding in sport. Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport is a podcast series by SCORE Sport Think Tank, an independent association based in Switzerland, bringing together sport thinkers to support the sports community in developing impactful and relevant solutions. Trigger warning - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you. Credits: • Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank. • Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs. • Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez. Any questions or comments? Get in touch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Safeguarding in sport is widely discussed — but often poorly understood.
In this episode, we examine what safeguarding in sport actually means by challenging long-standing beliefs about toughness, performance, and coaching culture. The conversation focuses on how abuse is defined, normalised, and overlooked within sport systems.
A central theme is that intention does not define abuse — impact does. While sexual abuse often re...
Safeguarding in sport is now a priority — but it is not always clearly understood.
Increased investment, research, and high-profile failures have made safeguarding more visible, more complex, and more contested. Attention alone, however, is not enough.
Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sports takes a step back.
This podcast series explores safeguarding in sport one concept at a time, questioning definitions, challenging assumptio...
Safeguarding in sport did not emerge overnight — it is the result of long social, cultural, and political struggles.
In this episode, we examine safeguarding in sport through a historical lens, exploring how modern sport became institutionalised, why violence was once accepted and even celebrated, and why safeguarding continues to face resistance today.
The conversation traces the development of organised sport alongside indu...
Safeguarding in sport cannot be understood without examining gender.
In this episode, we explore the relationship between gender, violence, and safeguarding in sport, combining lived experience with sociological analysis to examine how sport systems reproduce power, exclusion, and harm.
The conversation begins with the guest’s experience as an elite athlete, where overtraining, forced training while injured, and withheld medi...
Safeguarding in sport is increasingly governed by legal frameworks — yet protection on the ground remains uneven.
In this episode, we examine the legal landscape of safeguarding in sport, exploring what standards and policies already exist, where gaps remain, and what is still needed to create safe sport environments. The discussion looks at the relationship between international frameworks and national regulations, highlighting...
International sports governing bodies (SGBs) sit at the centre of power in global sport — but what does that mean for safeguarding?
In this episode, we examine the role of sports governing bodies (SGBs) in shaping safeguarding systems, exploring what policies currently exist, how they are implemented, and where gaps continue to expose athletes and other sport actors to harm. The discussion looks at how safeguarding respons...
Safeguarding in sport is often addressed after harm occurs — but prevention depends on education, awareness, and power redistribution.
In this episode, we examine the role of awareness-raising and education in building safe sport environments, questioning how safeguarding can move beyond reactive, scandal-driven responses toward proactive, human rights-centred systems. The discussion explores how educational programmes are curre...
Safeguarding in sport often stops at investigation and sanction — yet justice also requires remedy.
In this episode, we examine what remedy means in the context of safeguarding in sport, shifting the focus from disciplinary outcomes alone to processes that prioritise healing, safety, and systemic change. The discussion explores remedy as both an action and an outcome: a structured process designed to address harm, and the tangib...
Safeguarding in sport increasingly extends beyond physical spaces — yet online abuse remains poorly regulated and inconsistently addressed.
In this episode, we examine online abuse as a form of interpersonal violence in sport, exploring how digital environments have become inseparable from athletes’ professional, social, and psychological lives. The discussion unpacks what constitutes online abuse, from harassment and hate speec...
Safeguarding failures in elite sport are rarely accidental — they are produced by systems built on power, reward, and dependency.
In this episode, we examine the specific safeguarding risks faced by elite athletes, exploring how pursuit of excellence, early specialisation, and hierarchical coach–athlete relationships can create conditions in which abuse is enabled and normalised. The discussion considers how vulnerability begins...
Safeguarding in sport is shaped by international standards — yet meaningful change happens at the local level.
In this episode, we examine how safeguarding policies and frameworks are implemented in practice, exploring why translating international standards into safe sport environments remains a significant challenge. The discussion considers how safeguarding expectations reach clubs, coaches, and communities, and why policies ...
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