During the last 2022/23 season, FC Barcelona acted up to ten times to address risks of violence among boys, girls and young people living and belonging to the Barça club, most of which were due to circumstances, according to the club. outside the activities of the Barça circle. This emerges from the first report of its child protection system program, presented this Wednesday at the Auditori 1899 of the Spotify Camp Nou in the presence of President Joan Laporta.
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According to Barça and its top leader, it is a “pioneer in the national sports field” and also “recognized as a reference by the United Nations” at European level. An action in which they prided themselves on their transparency – “a key element in prevention”, says the club's statement – and which they claimed as their own when presenting a report on the protection of children in the world, both to be a leader in sports as well as in the social sector. .
When last November FC Barcelona (as well as the rest of the clubs, associations and sports institutions of the first division) requested data on possible cases reported in a 13-question questionnaire to EL PAIS, as part of the investigation carried out into abuses in sport, the answered Barça's compliance department said they would prepare a report and submit it “within two months.” On Monday the questionnaire was sent out again and the club responded, telling them when the report would be presented this Wednesday and adding that giving figures would in any case mean “revictimisation of the victims”. Finally, these figures were released this Wednesday, an estimated two months and three days ago after this newspaper's report was published. The presentation did not specify what type of violence (physical, psychological, sexual, negligence, abuse of power) the victims suffered.
The report describes four types of situations: vulnerability (one person suffered and another affected), conflict between equals (identifying 8 situations that did not affect anyone), situations of violence by the staff of the facility (2 cases in which two minors suffered). and of which another 24 were affected) and situations of violence by staff outside the facility (7 cases of which 7 minors were affected and 11 were affected). The difference between “people who suffered from the violent situation” and “people affected” is not explained in the document. The association clarifies that “technically not all are victims and that this nuance is due to the fact that we count those involved and witnesses in addition to those affected.”
Regarding the ten cases that appear in the report, the general director of the FC Barcelona Foundation, Marta Segú, said: “Seven of these cases were caused by people outside the club.” In two cases they were situations caused by another minor of the club in the company (bullying), and in one case a situation of vulnerability (social discrimination). The aim of this system, controlled by the Compliance Department and the FC Barcelona Foundation, is to ensure well-being. Minority in the face of any kind of violence, be it, among others, sexual abuse of children, psychological violence or bullying.
The various cases reported by the association were resolved according to the measures provided for in the protocol: “communication with social services, individual and group support and implementation of workshops to stop, protect and repair the damage caused.”
The report refers to data collected from the 2022/2023 season. In January 2022, exactly when the judge submitted the 19 complaints of sexual abuse received in the Benaiges case, former Barça youth football coordinator and professor at Escola Barcelona, Albert Benaiges, the offenses had expired .
Training activities and awareness sessions
In this first season, FC Barcelona has worked on training activities for professional teams that apply the child protection system, from the club's sports departments to some academies around the world. A training that has arrived in Catalonia but also in Chile, Colombia, Greece, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic, improving the skills of 371 professionals and improving the protection of 6,732 minors, says the club's report.
“We promoted the creation of a team of protection officers (21 people) with 70 hours of training and also assigned the protection officers (61) to carry out their duties,” added the member of the compliance area of the Barcelona club, Laura Mas. To ensure greater protection and well-being for minors associated with FC Barcelona, all sports departments – as well as the Barça academy in Catalonia, New York and Miami – have this number. In addition to training, awareness-raising events were also promoted. More than 700 boys, girls and young people took part in various workshops on the topics of preventing sexual abuse, bullying, respect between equals and a safe internet.
“Barça has been committed to the well-being of children and young people throughout its history. “Since the Foundation was created in 2003, programs have been aimed at its benefit and the creation of La Masía, as well as 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 outstanding issues that need to be resolved next season, but we are very proud of the work done,” concluded Laporta.