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Safeguarding Children in
Football
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The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act is scheduled to come in to force in the autumn of 2009. |
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The Football Association will be under a legal obligation to take all appropriate steps to protect children in football. One of the ways in which the FA will ensure that it complies with that obligation is to require all referees to attend a Workshop on Safeguarding Children in Football. |
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These Workshops are normally held in the evening and last for three hours.
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Issues covered are:-
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• Identifying what constitutes abuse;
• Recognising the signs and symptoms of abuse;
• Identifying how to respond to disclosures;
• Taking appropriate action if abuse is suspected;
• Identifying the key elements of good practice; and
• Recognising best practice in protecting children from abuse.
It should be stressed that these Workshops are not only designed to benefit children: they also benefit referees themselves. For example, referees are much less likely to place themselves in situations in which they will be vulnerable to allegations being made against them (e.g. of bullying a player who less than 18 years old) if they follow best practice as demonstrated at the Workshop.
Officials can no longer register or re-register as referees unless they have attended a Workshop. Most existing officials have attended the necessary Workshop and all new ones will do so as part of their initial training courses. A few existing officials still have to attend a Workshop, however, and a list of Workshops is available on request from one of the London FA Referee Development Officers, who can be contacted at...
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adrian.shorter@londonfa.com |
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020 7610 8375 |
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or
andy.porter@londonfa.com |
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020 7610
8362 |
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Workshops are held at numerous venues around London at approximately weekly intervals: a £30.00 fee is payable. |
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A certificate will be issued by the FA Child Protection Department to everyone successfully completing a Workshop. Enquiries about the issue of a certificate following attendance at a Workshop should be made by e-mail to
goal@thefa.com
or by telephoning 0800 085 0506.
Certificates are valid for three years and at the end of that period referees will be contacted by the FA, which will confirm the procedure which must be followed in order to update their training. |
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