FIFA and the United Nations (UN) have announced a global investigation to tackle sexual abuse within the sporting industry.
FIFA released a statement saying: “The objective is to establish an independent, multi-sports, multi-agency, international entity to help sports judicial bodies investigate and appropriately manage cases of abuse using a survivor-centred approach.”
This comes after the recent sexual assault scandal of tennis star Peng Shuai, with multiple countries boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
For more on this story see Ministry of Sport’s coverage on the issue.
The body will provide fair and accurate reporting and advice for victims of sexual abuse, with it expected to be in full motion by the end of 2022.
The global approach will help to track and prevent perpetrators from re-offending and moving across countries.
However the Human Rights Watch (HRW) have questioned whether FIFA is the right organisation to tackle the issue.
Human Rights Watch director for global initiatives, Minky Worden, said: “Although HRW certainly participated in the safe sport entity consultation report, the production of reports does not in any way mean that the underlying problems are being addressed.”
Worden said she believes FIFA is not equipped to do what is needed to tackle sexual assault.
“FIFA does not have a fit‑for‑purpose system that allows care and protection of survivors; even when given the chance to do things right, the system is still badly skewed against survivors,” she said.
