THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF MINORS IN SPORT IN ITALY
In recent years, the Italian sports legal system has undergone a significant systemic evolution in the protection of minors, transitioning from a predominantly sectoral and fragmented approach to a coherent model of integrated protection.
This transformation finds its normative foundation in the reform of the sports system pursuant to Legislative Decrees Nos. 36–40 of 2021, which introduced a regulatory framework aligned with principles of European and international origin, placing the best interests of the child at the very centre as the guiding and structuring criterion of the entire system.
Within this legal framework, the protection of young athletes can no longer be regarded as merely an incidental dimension or one left to the discretion and sensitivity of individual sports operators; rather, it constitutes a fully-fledged, structured legal obligation, impacting upon the organisation, governance, and liability of sports bodies at all levels of the legal order.
The shift in regulatory paradigm: from a competitive model to an integrated protection model
The 2021 reform marks a decisive turning point in the legal qualification of youth sport. The legislature has imposed upon federations, associated sports disciplines, promotional bodies, leagues, associations, and sports clubs the legal obligations to adopt organisational and preventive measures capable of ensuring the protection of minors from all forms of abuse, violence, maltreatment, and discrimination.
Such obligations translate into a widespread organisational responsibility, directly affecting the internal structure of sports bodies and requiring them to adopt preventive models inspired by the principles of risk management, accountability, and compliance.
In this context, the role of the sports coach – and, in particular, that of the trainer – assumes a legally qualified function as a “functional safeguard”, entrusted not only with ensuring the proper execution of sporting performance, but also with carrying out duties of supervision, early identification of distress signals, and activation of reporting procedures.
The institutional vade mecum and the operational implementation of obligations
A central role in the implementation of the reform is played by the vade mecum entitled “The protection of the rights of minors in sport”, prepared by the Department for Sport of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in collaboration with the Authority for the Protection of Children and Adolescents and the School of Sport of Sport e Salute S.p.A.
Although not normative in the strict sense, this document carries significant interpretative and operational weight, insofar as it translates legislative principles into concrete organisational standards capable of practical implementation.
It is grounded in a broad and integrated concept of protection, encompassing not only the prevention of abuse and violence, but also the management of phenomena, such as bullying and cyberbullying; the prevention of eating disorders; the promotion of social inclusion and equal opportunities; the fight against doping; and the proper regulation of early sports specialisation processes.
Organisational obligations of sports bodies: towards a structured compliance model
The implementation of the new regulatory legal framework entails, for sports bodies, the introduction of a safeguarding system structured across multiple levels, which may be broadly categorised into four principal areas of legal-organisational intervention as follows:
First, the adoption of internal safeguarding policies and codes of conduct, clearly defining prohibitions, behavioural standards, and operational procedures concerning risk prevention and management. Such instruments must be effectively disseminated amongst athletes, families, technical staff, and management, and must provide for cooperation with judicial authorities and local services in cases of potential criminal relevance.
Secondly, the appointment of designated safeguarding officers responsible for the protection of minors, entrusted with functions of supervision, internal training, and management of reports. These individuals assume a central role within the sports compliance legal framework, acting as organisational interfaces between the sports bodies’ internal structures and the external institutional system.
Thirdly, the obligation to assess and manage risks, requiring sports bodies to identify areas of heightened exposure, including changing rooms, travel, digital activities, and extra-contextual communications, and to adopt specific protocols aimed at preventing unlawful or inappropriate conduct.
Finally, the implementation of structured and traceable reporting systems, capable of ensuring the timely emergence of critical situations and the activation of the institutional protection network, including using emergency services and specialised reporting channels.
A key element of the new safeguarding system is the obligation of continuous training for sports operators. Legislative provisions and institutional guidelines require that coaches, managers, and collaborators should receive adequate training, not only in technical sports matters, but also in risk management, communication with minors, and the psycho-social dynamics associated with developmental processes.
This results in a progressive juridification of the educational function in sport, attributing legal relevance not only to acts of commission but also to acts of omission in supervision and intervention.
Professional football as an advanced laboratory for the protection of minors
Particular attention must be paid to the football sector, where the presence of academies, structured youth systems, and international transfers of young athletes render the issue of child protection especially sensitive.
In professional football, the economic and competitive dimensions intersect with the early development of talent, thereby imposing high safeguarding compliance standards upon clubs. The dynamics of international recruitment of minors, sports academies, and relationships with intermediaries and agents necessitate the adoption of rigorous protocols capable of preventing exploitation, undue pressure, and contractual imbalances.
In this context, the Italian sports legal system operates in coordination with the regulations of international federations, reinforcing the need for a multi-level approach to child protection based upon the principles of transparency, traceability, and organisational accountability.
Supranational dimension and guiding principles
The Italian system for the protection of minors in sport is embedded within a broader supranational legal framework, grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, with particular reference to the principles of non-discrimination; the right to health; the right to play; and protection from all forms of violence.
This is complemented by guidance from European institutions, which promote models of sports governance centred on the child and aimed at fostering safe and inclusive sporting environments.
The current Italian regulatory system thus delineates an advanced model for the protection of minors in sport, characterised by a high degree of integration between public law dimensions and the autonomy of the sports legal order. Sports bodies are now required to implement comprehensive internal safeguarding systems, which are based on structured policies; codes of conduct; designated officers; reporting procedures; and continuous training programmes.
The result is a model of organisational responsibility that transcends the traditional, purely disciplinary logic, evolving towards a form of preventive and systemic accountability.
Within this legal framework, sport, and football, in particular, as a phenomenon of primary social and legal significance is increasingly configured not merely as a domain governed by the principle of fair competition, but also as one subject to a legal duty of protection, the breach of which may give rise to significant consequences under civil, sports, and, in more serious cases, criminal law.
The future challenge
The challenge for the future, therefore, lies in consolidating a genuine culture of prevention, in which the protection of minors in sport in Italy is not treated as a mere formal compliance requirement, but rather as a structural and defining element of contemporary sports governance.
For further information and advice on the legal protection of minors in sport in Italy, email Avv. Sara Botti at botti@valloni.ch.