Football Academy Safeguarding: 8 Steps Every Nigerian Club Should Take to Protect Young Players
Football Academy Safeguarding: 8 Steps Every Nigerian Club Should Take to Protect Young Players
An academy can have good coaches, quality pitches and talented players and still expose children to unnecessary risks if nobody has established clear rules for their protection.
Who is responsible when a child reports inappropriate behaviour? What should a coach do if a player appears frightened of an adult at the academy? Who can a parent contact if a complaint involves the academy director?
These are not questions that should be answered for the first time during a crisis.
Safeguarding must be part of how a football academy operates, from recruitment and training to travel, accommodation, communication and the handling of complaints.
Recent developments at continental and global level underline the importance of this work.
What CAF and FIFA have introduced
On 18 February 2026, the Confederation of African Football announced its Safeguarding Toolkit under the CAF IMPACT programme and Protect The Dream initiative.
The toolkit is intended to help member associations, clubs and academies establish practical safeguarding arrangements. CAF identified several areas covered by the resource, including defined responsibilities, risk identification and mitigation, codes of conduct, reporting procedures, case management and education.
CAF also announced a pilot phase beginning in Liberia in February 2026. That announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation that every Nigerian academy has already received training or implemented the toolkit. Confédération Africaine de Football
A month later, on 19 March 2026, FIFA announced the approval of its first comprehensive Safeguarding Policy. FIFA described the policy as a unified framework designed to strengthen prevention, improve reporting and increase accountability across football. Inside FIFA
For Nigerian academies, these developments provide useful reference points when building or improving their own safeguarding arrangements.
The objective is not simply to create another policy document. It is to make sure that children know how to raise concerns, adults understand their responsibilities, and the academy has a credible process for responding.
What does safeguarding mean in grassroots football?
Safeguarding means taking reasonable steps to protect people involved in football, particularly children and other vulnerable participants, from abuse, exploitation, harassment, bullying, neglect and other forms of harm.
The risks are not limited to what happens during a training session.
They can arise during travel, overnight stays, medical treatment, trials, selection decisions, communication through social media or private messaging, and interactions between players and adults who control access to opportunities.
For a young player, a coach may be both a source of encouragement and the person who decides whether they make the team. That imbalance makes clear professional boundaries particularly important.
Safeguarding does not mean treating every coach as a potential offender. It means creating systems that protect players, guide staff and provide a fair process for responding when concerns arise.
Eight practical steps for Nigerian academies
1. Appoint a safeguarding lead
Every academy should identify a person responsible for receiving safeguarding concerns and coordinating the response.
In a small academy, this may initially be an existing administrator or senior staff member, provided the person is suitable for the role and has the necessary training and support.
Players and parents should know who this person is and how to contact them.
The academy should also identify an alternative reporting route when the complaint concerns the safeguarding lead or another senior official.
A reporting system is ineffective if the only person who can receive a complaint is the person being accused.
2. Introduce a written code of conduct
Coaches, administrators, volunteers, medical personnel and other adults working with young players should understand the expected standards of behaviour.
The code should address professional boundaries, respectful communication, bullying, discrimination, physical contact, private meetings, transport and the use of digital communication.
It should also explain how concerns can be reported and what may happen when the code is breached.
Players should receive an age-appropriate explanation of their rights and the behaviour they should expect from adults.
A written code will not prevent every incident, but it removes the excuse that nobody knew what conduct was expected.
3. Assess risks before training, travel and accommodation
An academy should not wait until an incident occurs before reviewing its environment.
Before an activity, organisers should consider who will supervise the players, where the activity will take place, how children will travel, whether accommodation is appropriate and how emergencies will be handled.
Particular care is needed when minors attend trials, travel away from home or stay overnight for competitions.
The academy should document its assessment, assign responsibilities and make reasonable adjustments to reduce identified risks.
These are practical recommendations for academy management. Specific requirements may also arise under applicable law, competition regulations or the policies of a governing body.
4. Establish a clear reporting procedure
Players and parents need a safe, understandable way to report concerns.
The academy should explain whom to contact, what information may be requested, how reports will be handled and what happens when a concern involves a member of staff.
Reports should be handled sensitively, with appropriate confidentiality and protection against retaliation.
Staff should not promise absolute secrecy where information may need to be shared to protect a child or meet legal obligations.
The procedure should also explain when concerns must be referred to the relevant child-protection authorities or law-enforcement agencies.
Serious allegations should not be treated as ordinary internal disciplinary matters or investigated by people who lack the necessary competence.
5. Apply appropriate staff recruitment and screening procedures
Academies should check the suitability of people who will work with children.
The precise checks available and required will depend on the applicable law and circumstances, but the process should include verifying identity, checking relevant qualifications and references, and considering any lawful background-screening measures.
Recruitment decisions should not be based solely on a person’s reputation in football or their ability to attract talented players.
A successful playing career does not automatically establish that someone is suitable to work with children.
Staff should also receive guidance on recognising and responding to safeguarding concerns.
6. Set boundaries for private communication
Football academies increasingly use WhatsApp, social media and other digital channels to communicate with players and parents.
These tools can be useful, but academies should establish clear rules governing contact with minors.
Where appropriate, official group channels and communication involving parents or guardians can reduce unnecessary one-to-one contact between adults and children.
The academy should also establish sensible rules for sharing photographs, videos and personal information.
Parents should know how their children’s images may be used, and the academy should obtain appropriate consent and comply with applicable privacy and child-protection requirements.
7. Protect players during trials and recruitment
A trial can be an important opportunity for a young footballer, but it can also create vulnerability when families are desperate for a breakthrough.
Academies should clearly explain who is organising the trial, where it will take place, what costs apply and whether selection has actually been confirmed.
They should avoid misleading promises and make sure that players and families understand the arrangements before travelling.
Where an opportunity involves another club, agent or intermediary, the academy should verify the relevant details rather than relying entirely on verbal assurances.
No academy should use a player’s ambition as a reason to ignore safeguarding concerns.
8. Review the system regularly
Safeguarding should not end with the adoption of a policy.
Academy management should periodically review training, reporting procedures, risk assessments and staff compliance.
Where concerns arise, the organisation should assess whether its existing arrangements worked and what changes are necessary.
Useful questions include:
- Do players know how to report a concern?
- Can parents identify the safeguarding lead?
- Are staff aware of the code of conduct?
- Is there an alternative reporting route for complaints involving senior management?
- Are travel and accommodation arrangements reviewed before each trip?
- Are concerns recorded and handled through an appropriate process?
The academy should make improvements where weaknesses are identified.
What parents should ask before enrolling a child
Parents do not need to be safeguarding specialists to ask sensible questions.
Before enrolling a child, they can ask the academy:
- Who is responsible for safeguarding?
- Is there a written safeguarding policy?
- How are concerns reported?
- What arrangements apply during travel and overnight stays?
- How does the academy recruit and supervise coaches?
- How are photographs and personal information handled?
- What happens if a parent raises a complaint?
A professional academy should be willing to explain its arrangements.
Parents should be cautious of organisations that dismiss reasonable questions, discourage children from speaking to their families or insist that complaints must remain within the academy regardless of their seriousness.
Does CAF’s toolkit automatically become Nigerian law?
No such conclusion should be drawn from the announcement alone.
CAF’s toolkit provides guidance for football stakeholders, while FIFA’s policy establishes a framework for safeguarding within FIFA’s areas of responsibility.
Neither announcement, by itself, establishes that every recommendation is automatically a standalone legal requirement for every Nigerian academy.
Academies must also consider applicable national and state laws, relevant NFF and competition requirements, and any safeguarding obligations attached to their affiliations or programmes.
Where a concern involves possible abuse or immediate danger, organisations should prioritise the affected person’s safety and contact the appropriate protection or law-enforcement services when necessary.
The takeaway
A football academy is responsible for more than developing technical ability and preparing players for competition.
It must also create an environment in which young people can train, learn and pursue opportunities without being exposed to preventable harm.
The CAF Safeguarding Toolkit and FIFA’s 2026 Safeguarding Policy provide useful reference points for this work. The practical test, however, is whether an academy has clear responsibilities, sensible preventive measures, safe reporting channels and a credible response when concerns arise.
Protecting young players should be part of academy management from the beginning, not an emergency measure introduced after a problem occurs.
