To mark Safe Sport Day 2023 on Tuesday 8th August 2023, It’s a Penalty hosted a virtual panel with Commonwealth experts, discussing the current landscape of safeguarding in sport and share how sports organisations and partners across the Commonwealth are preventing abuse in sport.

Each year, Safe Sport Day aims to highlight the importance of safe sport for every child. It was first established by the International Safeguards for Children in Sport – a global coalition of organisations around the world working to keep children safe in sport.

The panel event also coincided with It’s a Penalty’s KeepKidsSafe Campaign running during the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, highlighting the importance of protecting children from abuse and exploitation during their lives and as they play sport.

The panel was moderated by It’s a Penalty’s Commonwealth Advocacy Adviser Helen Jones MBE. We were honoured to be joined on the panel by:

• Dr Lin C Sambili Gicheha, The Commonwealth Secretariat
• Fahmida Faiza, Commonwealth Youth Council
• Liz Twyford, International Safeguards for Children in Sport/UNICEF UK
• Alison Osborne, Oceania Football Confederation
• Maria Rufina, Solomon Islands Football Federation

Thank you to all of our panellists for sharing their expertise!