Names of banned coaches will be found online but removed when a punishment has been served; the “Reform ’25” action plan comes as a result of complaints and findings published in June’s Whyte Review into misconduct within gymnastics
By Rob Harris, Sky News sports correspondent
Last Updated: 18/10/22 3:06pm
British Gymnastic has launched an action plan to create “safe, positive and fair experiences” for gymnasts
British Gymnastics will name coaches who have been banned as part of a response to an investigation exposing the sport’s abusive culture.
A 40-point “Reform ’25” action plan is intended by the governing body to create “safe, positive and fair experiences” for gymnasts.
It follows more than 400 complaints to the Whyte Review that was published in June and found young gymnasts in Britain had been left humiliated, shamed and permanently psychologically or physically damaged.
A challenge for gymnastics officials is determining the proportionality of sanctions based on the scale of misconduct – from sexual and physical abuse to bullying and malnutrition.
While British Gymnastics will publish lists of banned coaches online, their names will be removed once a punishment has been served.
It leaves open the possibility of coaches returning to the sport with athletes and any guardians never knowing about past misconduct.
British Gymnastics CEO Sarah Powell told Sky News: “I think we would have to be really convinced about why somebody had been banned, and then will come back into the sport. I don’t know until I look at the determinations of those outcomes.”
British Gymnastics will publish lists of banned coaches online, although names will be removed once a punishment has been served
Coaches who are suspended pending the outcome of an investigation will also not be named – opening up the possibility of them working in other countries in another sport.
The aspiration to improve welfare, safeguarding and complaints is for “zero tolerance of abuse – whether that be emotional, physical or sexual” and more specialist staff to handle complaints.
On the education priorities, Reform ’25 highlights the need for “a cultural understanding that creating a fear of coaches has no place in gymnastics”.
There are concerns that British sport has developed a medals over morals culture, but the action plan states there should be a “recognition that striving for and achieving success is not the same thing as wellbeing”.
British Gymnastics wants the reforms implemented by 2025 – a year after the next Olympics in Paris – but with regular progress updates on the progress in improving the environment that is focused on high-performance while eradicating risks.
Powell said: “The key for us is to make sure that those who’ve been affected, we acknowledge the failings of the past, and we make sure we set out a new direction for the future.
“The reforms that we’re putting in place today will ensure that this sport can be a safe, positive experience for all involved.”
