Football: Safe Sport Commission in contact with academy over ex-coach's misconduct

SINGAPORE - The Safe Sport Commission has urged local sports organisations to engage coaches under the National Registry of Coaches (NROC), in order to ensure that they are in line with its guidelines and can be sanctioned in cases of misconduct.

The commission was set up by national agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) in 2019 to clamp down on the abuse of athletes.

The call from Safe Sport comes after a coach at a private football academy here was sacked after allegedly sending a lewd photograph over WhatsApp to two female teenaged players under his charge, which The Straits Times reported on July 31.

ST understands that the team from Safe Sport has since been in touch with the academy - which is not named to protect the identities of the victims, who are minors - to provide support and assistance in the matter.

However, how the case will proceed is still unclear, as the academy is not a member of the Safe Sport programme.

In addition, sources tell ST that the coach involved is not registered with the NROC.

In response to ST's queries, a Safe Sport Commission spokesman said: "We strongly encourage sporting organisations and members of the public to engage coaches accredited under NROC, as these coaches will have undergone the Safe Sport Commission's certification course and sanctions can be imposed in the event of misconduct."

The spokesman added that the incident "highlights the need for all sporting programme providers to ensure that safeguards for children and young persons are in place to mitigate the modern threats posed by digital communications".

These include having up-to-date organisational safeguarding policies, education and training for athletes, coaches, parents, staff and volunteers, he added.

A spokesman for the academy involved said previously that the players involved were offered counselling sessions. It also pledged that it would beef up safety procedures - including doubling the frequency of courses to educate coaches on what is required for a safe and secure environment for athletes - in a bid to avoid a repeat of the incident.

The incident took place during a youth football tournament overseas in July and it is understood the parents of the victims are keen to move on and do not plan on lodging a police report.

The Safe Sport Commission was set up by SportSG in partnership with the Ministry of Social and Family Development, the Singapore Police Force and the Ministry of Education after the issue of harassment in sport came to the fore, following several prominent cases of sexual misconduct around the world.

Locally, there were several cases, including one in 2018 when a football coach was given 26 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for sexually assaulting seven boys aged between eight and 11.

In 2020, an athletics coach was sentenced to 21 months' jail after he was found guilty of molesting an 18-year-old athlete under his charge.