IT is amazing how small the world of sport is, it is one area of society that regularly extends the hand of friendship to those visiting to support their country or their team.
This hand of friendship is also clear when we stand together and have worldwide condemnation on a particular subject, and this week the subject in point, was no less than Ilie Nastase, the former world No 1 tennis player.
This once great tennis legend has fallen spectacularly from any pedestal that he may have managed to climb on with his recent suspension from the Federation Cup by the International Tennis Federation.
Racism, sexism, misogyny; I think he can cover all three. We now have a few historic claims on the behaviour of Nastase surfacing, and these may just be the tip of the iceberg.
One of the recipients of this fallen hero was Serena Williams, and while she had to deal with this issue and did so extremely well, she also had to deal with the global debate that raged on regarding news of her pregnancy.
The media debated on whether or not she should have been playing tennis whilst pregnant. Everyone had an opinion on this, however, other than the women in question herself and her medical advisor, it really isn’t the business of anyone else.
Another hot topic which is an uncomfortable one, is the recent revelations about historical sexual abuse in football.
It has been heart-breaking to hear some of the stories that have shaped and in many cases, ruined the lives of those who have become victims of this heinous type of crime.
Finding the inner strength to come forward and speak about these event and on such a public platform, takes an enormous amount of courage, and I hope it is of some comfort now, to those who have been affected, to know that they are believed.
Now, the good thing about this, if there can ever be anything good about this type of abhorrent behaviour, is that those who do not conform to the ‘ideal’ of certain individuals, those who don’t acquiesce to the demands of some of our more twisted members of society, no longer feel the need to remain silent.
We have opened the conversation and as such we are a much more enlightened society that now has a global movement that demands transparency and offers support for anyone who comes forward with claims of abuse of any nature.
I know that this may be a little too late for many who have suffered at the hands of those who they trusted, but it is hoped that by speaking out that they will stop others suffering in the way that they did themselves and cleanse sport of the low-life who are using it to promote their own distasteful behaviour.
The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee have been looking into the disclosure process in Scotland and in particular how it affects football, and they released their findings in a report earlier this week.
It is fair to say that all sporting organisations take the safety of their young participants extremely seriously and welcome all the support they can get to ensure that the correct procedures are implemented.
Let’s be honest here, the disclosure process is a huge undertaking for all sports, and I can say that with complete confidence as I was involved in that side of the business whilst working in football.
This is a time-consuming and human resource nightmare for a lot of sports, and more money must be found to help support the smaller sports in their endeavour to comply with the legislation.
No-one wants any more children to suffer and we have to work together to ensure that we safeguard children in sport.
We must also work hard to empower our young people to feel confident that if or when they are being coerced into a situation, not of their choice, they can say no and speak up.
This is where as adults put on our listening ears and use our common sense. If we feel a situation isn’t right, let’s get it out in the open and deal with it.
A little bit of embarrassment, if you get it wrong, is nothing compared to the alternative.
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