Throughout the last 2022/23 season, FC Barcelona acted on up to ten occasions to address situations of risk of violence in boys, girls and adolescents who live and are part of the Barça club, the majority, according to the club, caused by circumstances. outside the activities of the Barça circle. This is stated in the first report of its Child Protection System program, presented this Wednesday in the Auditori 1899 of the Spotify Camp Nou, in the presence of president Joan Laporta.
According to Barça and its top leader, it is a “pioneer in the state sports field” and also at the European level, “recognized by the United Nations as a reference.” An action with which they have taken pride in its transparency – “a key element for prevention”, says the club's statement -, and they have claimed to be leaders in presenting a report on the protection of children in the world, both sporting and social. .
When data on possible cases reported in a questionnaire with 13 questions was requested this past November from FC Barcelona (as well as the rest of the First Division clubs, Federations and sports institutions) in the framework of the investigation into abuses in sport undertaken. by EL PAIS, from the department of compliance Barça responded that they were preparing a report and that they would present it “within two months.” On Monday the questionnaire was sent again and the club responded informing them of the date of presentation of the report for this Wednesday and added that, in any case, giving figures would mean “re-victimizing the victims.” Finally, these figures came out this Wednesday, before the estimated two months and three days after the publication of this newspaper's report. The presentation has not specified what type of violence (physical, psychological, sexual, negligence, abuse of power) the victims have suffered.
The report describes four types of situations: vulnerability (that one person has suffered and affected another), conflict between equals (with 8 situations detected that have not affected anyone), situations of violence caused by entity personnel (2 cases that have suffered two minors and that have affected another 24) and situations of violence by personnel outside the entity (7 cases that have suffered by 7 minors and have affected 11). The document does not explain the difference between “people who have suffered” the situation of violence and “affected people.” From the club they clarify that “technically not all are victims and that this nuance is because we count, in addition to those affected, those involved and witnesses.”
Regarding the ten cases that appear in the report, the general director of the FC Barcelona Foundation, Marta Segú, said this: “Seven of these cases were caused by people outside the club. Two were situations caused by another minor of the entity –bullying―, and a case of situation of vulnerability ―social discrimination―”, The objective of this system, controlled by the Compliance Department and the FC Barcelona Foundation, is to guarantee the well-being of all minors in the face of any type of violence, whether abuse child sexual violence, psychological violence or bullyingamong other.
The different cases reported by the club were resolved according to the actions provided for by the protocol: “communication to social services, individual and group support, and holding workshops in order to stop, protect and repair the damage caused.”
The report makes references to data collected from the 2022/2023 season. In January 2022, it was precisely when the judge filed it, because the crimes had expired, the 19 complaints of sexual abuse received by the Benaiges Case, former Barça youth football coordinator and professor at the Escola Barcelona Albert Benaiges.
Training activities and awareness sessions
During this first season, FC Barcelona has worked on training activities for professional teams that operate through the application of the Child Protection System, from the club's sports sections to some of the academies around the world. A training that has arrived in person in Catalonia, but also in Chile, Colombia, Greece, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic, increasing the skills of 371 professionals and improving the protection of 6,732 minors, according to the club's report.
“We promoted the formation of a team of protection delegates ―21 people― with 70 hours of training given, and the protection representatives ―61―, also instructed to carry out their tasks,” added the member of the Compliance Area of the Barcelona club, Laura Mas. To guarantee more protection and well-being for minors linked to FC Barcelona, all sports sections – as well as the Barça Academy in Catalonia, New York and Miami – have this figure. In addition to training, awareness sessions were also promoted. More than 700 children and adolescents participated in different sexual abuse prevention workshops, bullyingrespect among equals and a safe internet.
“Barça, throughout its history, has been involved in the well-being of children and adolescents. Since the constitution of the foundation in 2003, oriented to programs for their benefit, and the creation of La Masía, and in the care of the club's training teams,” said the Barça president. “We are more than a club because we want to be a reference for social change. There are many pending issues that will be addressed next season, but we are very proud of the work done,” Laporta concluded.
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