Safeguarding children in community football: a practical guide

Every project that brings children together to play football takes on a responsibility that has nothing to do with football: keeping them safe. That applies to a weekly street football session as much as to a world festival like Festival 06. This guide explains the idea of safeguarding and turns it into practical steps.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. The rules differ by country, and your national football association and local authority are the right places to check what applies to you.

Safeguarding vs child protection

The term safeguarding is used in the UK, Ireland and Australia for measures that protect people’s health, well-being and human rights, so they can live free from abuse, harm and neglect.

The UK government defines safeguarding children as “the process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care”. It goes beyond child protection: it is not only about reacting to abuse, but about preventing harm in the first place. And in the UK model, responsibility lies with everyone who comes into contact with children, not only with specialists.

Two principles follow for football projects:

1. Any child can be at risk, whatever their age, background, gender or religion.
2. Safeguarding is everyone’s job, including coaches, volunteers, drivers and the person running the kit bag.

Practical steps for a football project

1. Name a safeguarding lead

One person in your project should be responsible for safeguarding. Everyone, including children and parents, should know who it is and how to contact them.

2. Check and train the adults

Use the vetting procedures that exist in your country for people who work with children, and do not let anyone work alone with children until checks are complete. Give every volunteer a short briefing on what to do if a child tells them something worrying.

3. Write a simple code of conduct

For adults: no one-to-one situations out of sight, no private messaging with children, no physical punishment, no favouritism. For players: respect, no bullying, no violent games. Share it with parents.

4. Watch the games children invent

Some playground games cause real harm. In France, a game called “petit pont massacreur” lets children kick a player who has been nutmegged; it received heavy media attention in the 2000s after children were hospitalised. A similar game exists in the UK. Know what is played at your sessions; read more in our article on panna and the nutmeg.

5. Collect the right information

Emergency contacts, medical information and consent for photos. Store it safely and only for as long as you need it.

6. Plan for travel and tournaments

Trips multiply risks: transport, overnight stays, unfamiliar places. Agree adult-to-child ratios, rooming rules and check-in times before you leave.

7. Know how to report

Have a written procedure: what to record, who to tell and when to contact the authorities. Never promise a child to keep a secret you cannot keep.

Children in difficult situations

Many football-for-development projects work with children who are already vulnerable: in poverty, in care, or living on the streets. The Street Child World Cup showed that such children are not only people to be protected but people with rights to be heard. Its Durban Declaration (2010) sets out the right to be heard, to a home, to protection from violence, and to health and education. Good safeguarding includes listening to children.

FAQ

What is safeguarding in football?

The measures a club or project takes to protect children’s health, well-being and rights, and prevent harm, not only respond to it.

Who is responsible for safeguarding?

Everyone who works with the children, with one named lead person who coordinates.

Do small street football projects need a safeguarding policy?

Yes. Even a simple one-page policy and a named lead make a big difference.

Conclusion

Safeguarding is not paperwork; it is what makes parents trust you with their children. Combine it with our guides on organising a street football tournament and running a five-a-side league.