The first e-conference organised by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to find solutions to ensure a positive culture and a safe training environment in the sport was held on 26 and 27 October and engaged over 800 representatives from around 80 federations. The event forms part of global initiatives undertaken by the FIG in cooperation with the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation to encourage and reinforce the safeguarding of everyone involved in Gymnastics.
“A respectful culture and safe training conditions for athletes should be implicit – but we all know that unfortunately this is not the case. Neither in Gymnastics, nor in many other sports,” said the President of the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation, Micheline Calmy-Rey, during the meeting.
“There are many positive examples that show sporting success can be achieved while training in a safe environment. It is crucial that you – as representatives of national federations – exchange and spread these examples. I am convinced this can help change attitudes. This can achieve positive and sustainable change – even if it may take a while,” she emphasised.
The interactive forum allowed top athletes, coaches, sports administrators, sports figures and several national federations to share their good practices, enabling the fostering of mutual respect and trust in Gymnastics training and competition halls.
Based on the valuable output of this e-conference, FIG plans to develop a social charter and a dozen basic ‘golden rules’ which will summarise the main principles of this charter with illustrations. They will help clearly define the expected behaviour in training or competition halls.
The whole conference will be available on the FIG YouTube channel later this week.
Click here to read the press release by FIG.
