Guidelines on safer recruitment in sport: Human rights-compliant screening of professionals and volunteers in contact with children (2025)

The Guidelines on safer recruitment in sport aim to advise states as well as sports bodies and organisations on developing effective processes to recruit professionals and volunteers who work with children in sport, in a way that aligns with international human rights standards. Ensuring that applicants to these roles are appropriately screened is an essential preventive measure to safeguard children in sport, which also demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to minimise risks and promote a culture of safety and accountability.

The Guidelines focus on safer recruitment, and specifically criminal record checks and other complementary measures, for those who engage with children in sport. However, it is acknowledged that children are not the only group at risk. Similar care should be taken in recruiting individuals for other groups who may be impacted by extreme power differentials such as, but not limited to, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, etc. The Guidelines were developed by the Council of Europe’s Pool of International Experts on Safe Sport as an instrumental basis for its work on child safeguarding in sport. They were adopted by the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) on 4 July 2025.

The Pool is the single-entry point to a unique source of multi-disciplinary expertise covering all forms of violence and abuse against children in sport. It brings together policy makers, researchers and academics, specialists supporting people with lived experience, child safeguarding officers, trainers/consultants and agents of change. Its work is supported by Start to Talk, the Council of Europe’s flagship project on child safeguarding in sport.