Care and Well-being - People and Well-being

Safeguarding Sport & Society

Project

Safe Football Allies

Creating Belgium’s first football-specific, season-long safeguarding program education for the elite youth pathway

Safe Football Allies is a four-year research project led by Thomas More University of Applied Sciences and funded by the Oak Foundation. The project aims to address and prevent interpersonal violence in Belgian elite youth football by embedding safeguarding education into the everyday structures of football academies.

Building on the evidence-informed Safe Sport Allies bystander education program, Safe Football Allies goes beyond adapting workshop materials. Through close collaboration with football academies, Belgian’s four key football organisations, two sport ministries, and international board of experts, the project is developing a sustainable safeguarding program designed to support long-term cultural change in elite youth football.

Date

From 01 Jan '24 until 21 Dec '27

Supported by

Oak Foundation

Contact

jon.brain@thomasmore.be

+3234324084

The External Advisory Board of Safe Football Allies

Building a safer future in football

Why Safe Football Allies is needed?

Football offers young players belonging, opportunity, and personal development. Yet research shows that players aged 12–17 on elite youth pathways are at increased risk of experiencing interpersonal violence, including emotional, psychological, physical, and sexual interpersonal violence, as well as neglect.

Pressures linked to performance, power imbalances, and a “win-at-all-costs” culture can normalise harmful behaviours and discourage young players from speaking up. The consequences are serious, ranging from anxiety, injury, and dropout to long-term mental health impacts. These harms also affect families, clubs, and trust in the sport system as a whole.

While safeguarding efforts are increasing within Belgian football, tailored and evidence-based safeguarding programs specifically designed for elite youth academies remain limited. Safe Football Allies aims to address this gap.

Objectives of the Safe Football Allies project

The main objectives of the Safe Football Allies project are:

To co-adapt, pilot, and evaluate a football-specific, evidence-informed safeguarding education program for elite youth football in Belgium
To support and guide Belgian sport ministries and national football associations in embedding the program within existing safeguarding structures
To generate knowledge and practical guidance to support wider uptake of the Safe Football Allies programs within football and other sports, nationally and internationally

Project partners

The External Advisory Board of Safe Football Allies

Safe Football Allies is supported by an independent external advisory board. Leveraging the diverse experience and expertise of its members, the board provides strategic guidance, critical feedback, and international perspectives to support the development of a sustainable, football-specific safeguarding education program. The board currently includes members from 12 countries across 5 continents.

The board

Emily Lane Goldsmith

Case Management Associate at USRowing (USA). Expertise in incident response, policy creation & implementation.

Marisa Markunas

Clinical & Sport Psychologist working with Brazil Olympic Commitee. Served as Brazilian Women’s Youth U17 & U15 team Safeguarding Officer.

Wouter Artz

Head Coach of RSC Anderlecht Women. Prev. Pro Player, Youth Coach, Academy Director & Sports Director in Belgian ProLeague clubs.

Davy Van Der Jeught

Mediatior for Social Affairs & Labour Relations & Integrity officer Belgian Cycling. Focus on psychosocial prevention & conflict resolution.

Stephanie Radziszewski

Ass. Prof. at Université Laval (CAN). Research on promoting integrity & equity in physical education & sport from a socio-ecological perspective.

Zrinka Greblo Jurakic

Associate Professor, University of Zagreb (CRO). Researches interpersonal violence in sport & develops evidence-based strategies for safer environments.

Kupakwashe Mukurumbira

Safe Sport Consultant Council of Europe & FIFA Foundation's Safe Football Unit.

Hisham Bachouri-Muniesa

Graduate Teaching Assistant in Physical Education & Health Lifestyles Promotion in Adolescence at University of Zaragoza (ESP).

Andrea Sáenz

Assistant Lecturer & Researcher in Safe Sport at University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Working on safe sport project & developing safety protocols.

Sven Hage

Policy advisor & contact person in the field of sports & care. Government Commissioner on Sexual Harassment & Sexual Violence (NL).

Robert Booth

Research Fellow & Trial Manager at University College London. PhD graduate at Loughborough University in safeguarding.

John Finlay

Sports lawyer in safeguarding & integrity. Football Association Safeguarding Review Panel Member, Judicial Panel Member of Lawn Tennis Association.

Renata Falcão

Lawyer at MCF International Law and Junior Researcher at Arch Safeguarding.

Tawanda Sithole

Board Member at Zimbabwe Olympic Committee. Leading policy development & implementation of safeguarding and child protection in sport.

Safe Football Allies: Building a safer future in football

The Safe Football Allies safeguarding program is currently being finalised through ongoing research, piloting, and evaluation.

Expected launch in 2027

The full program, including activities and guidance materials, will be released at the end of the project. In the meantime, the examples below offer insight into what safeguarding activities in the Safe Football Allies program look like in practice:

Researcher

Jon Brain

Jon Brain (PhD) is a researcher of the People and Well-Being research group, research line Safeguarding Sport & Society. As a Sport Psychologist he is currently participating in the Safe Football Allies project.

Researcher

Karolien Adriaens

Karolien Adriaens (PhD) is a researcher in the People and Well-being research group, research line Safeguarding Sport & Society. As a clinical psychologist she is working on research projects on interpersonal violence in sports and child maltreatment

Researcher

Tine Vertommen

Tine Vertommen (PhD) is a researcher in the People and Well-being research group, research line Safeguarding Sport & Society. in the People and Well-being research group. As a criminologist she

FAQ

Interpersonal violence refers to harmful behaviour that occurs between individuals. In elite youth football, this can take various forms, including psychological, physical, and sexual violence, as well as neglect.

These behaviours can occur between peers, coaches, staff, parents, or others within the football environment and are often linked to power imbalances, pressure to perform, and harmful norms that go unchallenged.

Preventing interpersonal violence requires more than policies or one-off training sessions. Preliminary research findings from the Safe Football Allies project highlights the importance of ongoing education, awareness, and shared responsibility.

Everyone who works with or around young players has a role to play. A bystander approach emphasises that individuals who notice concerning behaviour should feel equipped and supported to respond appropriately.

While many football-specific safeguarding materials already exist, they are often delivered as isolated workshops or static toolkits that struggle to create lasting change. Safe Football Allies aims to address this by making safeguarding a living, everyday practice within football academies.

Most safeguarding education in sport relies on one-off workshops or static toolkits that are rarely revisited, limiting their long-term impact in elite football environments.

Season-long, not one-off
Safe Football Allies breaks down existing Safe Sport Allies workshop content into bite-sized safeguarding activities delivered across key moments throughout the season, ensuring learning is reinforced rather than forgotten.

Rich variety of engaging activities
The program offers a wide range of practical on- and off-pitch activities and conversation starters that help coaches and staff lead safeguarding discussions with confidence.

Integrated into football practice
Safeguarding activities are embedded into existing academy routines, including training sessions, meetings, and camps, with some activities taking place on the pitch to combine movement, football, and learning.

Club-owned and adaptable
Clubs are provided with a flexible blueprint that they can adapt to their own context, resources, and structures, supporting autonomy, self-sufficiency, and long-term sustainability.

Leadership-driven cultural change
The program places the academy manager at the centre, supporting leadership to set safeguarding values and expectations that shape culture across staff and players. Shared responsibility Safeguarding is framed as everyone’s responsibility, rather than the task of the safeguarding officer, Aanspreekpersoon Integriteit (Club-API) / Référent Vivons Sport (RVS), or the role or external expert.