Children who engage in extracurricular sports are inadequately protected, according to a scientific report carried out by the multidisciplinary research team "Protection of Minors in Sport", involving University of Oviedo research staff. The report notes that regulations should be put in place to protect them physically and psychologically.

The report - which is based on a review of sports clubs and federations' organisation charts and functioning - was written by doctors of psychology, medicine, law, sociology, educational sciences, economics and philosophy, under the coordination of university lecturer Ignacio Fernández Sarasola. The report notes the lack of preparation among a high proportion of sports technical staff when working with minors; an absence of education on values; excessive physical demands at very early ages; excessive training schedules; poor competitive practice; and minors being developed for professional sports - among other issues.

The authors of the study also highlight that there are no policies to address gender equality or to incorporate children who have functional diversity, as well as the pressure that children are subjected to by parents and sports technical staff. The report proposes policies for immediate action on the almost forty issues identified.

Recommended measures

The measures proposed include requiring clubs and federations to establish protocols to identify and prevent bullying; establishing a limit on the number of hours that children of compulsory schooling age spend training; providing for administrative sanctions where intermediaries are involved and where gifts are offered to children who choose a club; and introducing the role of Children's Advocate within the Directorate General of Sports.

Other proposals include: implementing specialist courses for training children within federations; changing the criteria for granting regional and municipal subsidies, so that they focus on policies that promote equality, teaching about values, and training technical staff to work with minors; and, in regard to competitions, including factors other than the simple result of matches (such as judging players according to appropriate behaviour, technical team and audiences).