Does Elite Sport Respect Young Athletes’ Human Rights?

By Myrna El Fakhry Tuttle

We all enjoy watching national and international sports events, but most of us do not have any idea about the journey the athletes go through in order to make it to these events.

To become elite athletes, children have to start training intensively at a very early age otherwise they cannot make it to the top. However, enrolling children in intensive training programmes can lead to physical, emotional, sexual abuse and violence.

Moreover, many young athletes have to leave their families at a very early age to train professionally. They live in residential training centres which are usually far away from the parental home. Even if they still live with their parents, these young athletes normally do not have much time, after training and school, to spend with their families (See: Romana Weber; Protection of Children in Competitive Sport at p 65) [Romana Weber].

Donnelly & Petherick cited Grupe who outlined the problems for children enrolled in these training programmes:

They are not permitted to be children; they are denied important social contacts and experiences; they are victims of disrupted family life; they are exposed to excessive psychological and physiological stress, they may experience impaired intellectual development; they may become so involved with sport that they become detached from the larger society; they face a type of abandonment on completion of their athletic careers (See: Peter Donnelly & Leanne Petherick; Workers' Playtime? Child Labour at the Extremes of the Sporting Spectrum at p 312) [Donnelly & Petherick].

Furthermore, children are not old enough to make their own decisions in getting involved in sport. Usually it is not their decision to become athletes; the decision is taken by the parents and/or coaches:

A child under the age of six to seven years cannot consent to compete in elite sport, as it does not understand the concept and consequences of this decision. Even a few years later, young teenagers do not have the same kind of informed consent as adults. Therefore, it is mostly adults (e.g. the child’s parents, coaches) who make the decision as to whether their child participates in competitive sport (Romana Weber at p 56).

Competitive sport is a physical activity that requires harsh training and discipline, and children have to follow this rule. In some sports (e.g. tennis, gymnastics, figure skating, diving, ice hockey, basketball and football), children as young as four years old train regularly. Also, some children who are six years old already follow an intensive training and participate in competitions (See: Siri Farstad; Protecting Children’s Rights in Sport: The Use of Minimum Age at p 2) [Siri Farstad].

Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states that a “child” means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

The issue of children involved in sport is not mentioned in the CRC but many of its provisions can be applied to protect these children. Article 3 states that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Article 19 protects children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of persons responsible for the child. And according to article 24 “State Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health...”.

Unfortunately, high performance sport usually does not comply with international norms and standards ­including the CRC­ when it comes to children’s rights.

Sport helps us have good health, but intensive training may have the opposite impact. Physical growth of young athletes may be delayed due to the strict and demanding training. Moreover, abuse by coaches, training with injuries, psychological pressure put on children and the use of illegal drugs to enhance a child’s achievement can harm the health of these children permanently [Romana Weber at p 60].

Usually, children spend more time with their coaches than with their parents. Young athletes become completely dependent on the coach’s knowledge to improve their performance. In this case, the coach turns into the main caregiver under article 19 of the CRC. Therefore, the coach becomes responsible for the protection of the children from all forms of abuse, violence and exploitation (See: Paulo David; Human Rights in Youth Sport: A Critical Review of Children's Rights in Competitive Sport, 2005 at p 56) [Paulo David].

However, coaches who spend a considerable time with young athletes and have significant authority over them can abuse these athletes physically and sexually and this can harm the health of young athletes. Physical abuse takes place when there is an intention to deliberately injure an athlete physically, or when there is failure to prevent injuries. Because coaches have so much power, children are worried about the outcomes if they tell anyone about these abuses. Therefore, these abuses keep happening and threaten the health of the young athletes (Romana Weber at pp 61-62).

Moreover, young athletes can be put under psychological stress by their parents, coaches, peers, the media or health care providers. Also, children know what is expected from them; they know that they are obliged to perform well, thus put pressure on themselves. In addition, parents can spend a lot of money to support their children (e.g. hiring a coach, buying equipment, etc.) and that can add more pressure to the children (Romana Weber at p 62).

The Olympic Movement Medical Code states that:

Health care providers should oppose any sports or physical activity that is not appropriate to the stage of growth, development, general condition of health, and level of training of children. They should act in the best interest of the health of children or adolescents, without regard to any other interests or pressures from the entourage (e.g., coach, management, family, etc.) or other athletes (See: Celia H Brackenridge and Daniel Rhind (Eds.); Elite Child Athlete Welfare: International Perspectives at p 26).

The World Health Organization (WHO) Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention drafted the following definition: ‘‘Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power’’ (See: World Health Organization; Child abuse and neglect by parents and other caregivers at p 59)

The WHO and the European Commission have warned that abuse can take place in intensive training programmes. They have insisted on the importance of protecting the health of young athletes. In 1997, WHO warned that:

Organization of children’s sports activity by adults does have a potential for abuses to occur if those who set the amount of sports participation and the training regimen are inexperienced and unfortunately, many coaches are not sufficiently aware of children’s complex physical and psychological developmental needs and the stages they go through use adult models (Paulo David at p 53).

Moreover, Paulo David asserted that:

Every individual has a limit to the suffering he or she can bear, however, and in sports, exceeding that limit generally leads to physical injury and/or mental burn-out. Young athletes cannot withstand pain and suffering to the same degree as adults. In its jurisprudence regarding torture and ill-treatment, the European Court of Human Rights recognizes that age must be taken into account when assessing pain and suffering (Paulo David at p 63).

Furthermore, children can be pushed, at a young age, to take illegal drugs to improve their performance. While their performance can be enhanced in the short term, it can affect the athletes’ health in the long run. Research has proved that between 2 and 10 percent of young athletes use illegal drugs. Children consume illegal drugs without their knowledge when coaches gives them to the athletes under false pretext, or when they are influenced by their coaches to take them (Romana Weber at p 63).

The intensive training and pressure put on the children, may result in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. This can be an issue in sports that are conditional on judges’ evaluation like gymnastic, diving and figure skating, where it was estimated that 35% of the athletes have eating disorders. This can also weaken the bones, prevent growth, cause injuries, lead to burn out and early retirement from sport (Siri Farstad at p 3).

Elite athletes have to follow a special diet so they stay physically fit. In addition to mastering the skills of a challenging sport, they also have to focus on their appearance and beauty. This can be very hard especially that those young athletes are still in a sensitive phase of their development (Paulo David at p 75).

Youth athletes are victims of violence and abuse in different forms every day:

A River Bluff High School, in South Carolina, football player died after coaches punished his team for poor performance in a scrimmage the day before with a series of sprints and strenuous exercises in 95-degree heat, athletes forced to participate in physically injurious or sexually degrading initiation rituals (e.g. hazing), allowed to return to the playing field too soon after a concussion, sexually assaulted by coaches, psychologically degraded or humiliated by coaches based on gender, sexual orientation, body shape or performance, or required or encouraged to follow nutrition and weight loss regimes that lead to eating disorders and abuse of appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic-androgenic steroids. Simply put, the kinds of abuse we see in youth sports would not be tolerated in the classroom or in the workplace. Yet there are no laws that specifically address such abuse in the context of sports. (See: Brooke de Lench; Child Abuse in Youth Sports: Why We Need the U.N. Human Rights Council More Than Ever).

Furthermore, article 31 of the CRC declares that: “States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts”.

The right to rest and leisure is an important fundamental right, such as the right to food, clothing and housing. Not honoring this right can be considered a form of abuse. Unfortunately, that does not take place in competitive sport where young athletes train for hours every day with no time to rest, socialise or being entertained.

All what was discussed above, lead to the question as to whether intensive training should be compared to child labour.

Article 32 of the CRC includes the right of children to be protected from economic exploitation and any work that is likely to be hazardous, to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. State parties have to provide a minimum age for admission to work and appropriate penalties and sanctions to ensure effective enforcement of this article.

Unfortunately, providing a minimum age for entering high performance sport can be very challenging. Young athletes train for long hours for years. Like young workers, they spend six to eight hours per day exercising in order to succeed in competitions with the hope that they would earn a living:

Social scientists of sport in Canada and Germany have argued for over 20 years that children’s involvement in high-performance sport may be viewed as a form of child labour. Children participate in highly work-like conditions; adults depend on children’s work for their own employment and income; the receipt of income, expenses, and prizes formalizes their working status, but many labour in the expectation of future income (See: Donnelly & Petherick at p 311).

Moreover, articles 28 and 29 of the CRC talk about the right of children to education. Unfortunately, when children train for long hours on a daily basis, they do not have the time and energy to go after a proper education. Parents and coaches believe that school is not necessary because the child’s future is guaranteed by the probability of being an athlete in a profitable sport. This can result in dropping out of school or in negotiating school board policy. It is important to note that not all young athletes make it to the top, therefore dropping out of school can be unfortunate in the long run (Romana Weber at pp 64-65).

In addition, article 15 of the CRC recognizes the rights of the child to freedom of association. However, this right is frequently violated in competitive sport, particularly group sports. If young athletes want to change the club they belong to, the club can ask for reimbursement to cover the money spent on developing the athlete’s skills. Also, child athletes can be transferred to another club involuntarily if their club wants to make a profit by selling its players. That limits the athletes’ freedom to pick the club they want to join (Romana Weber at pp 65-66).

Children’s rights in competitive sport is a forbidden topic, therefore this important matter remains under-researched.

The search for wealth and celebrity has had a strong impact on young athletes and their human rights. Every child has a right to practice sport in an enjoyable and safe environment. We need to create youth sport environments that are safe from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation.

States have failed to protect young athletes under the CRC by not implementing its provisions and principles. Violence, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse should not be the sacrifice children have to make to compete in elite sports.

All children should be allowed to train and compete while enjoying their participation in an environment that accommodates their capabilities, skills and desires. Young athletes should train and compete in a safe and proper environment that protects and endorses their human rights.