The GUARD project is a project funded by the EU under the Erasmus+ programme. The aim of the project is to develop a system for the protection and safeguarding of children in sport.
The project involves training and building a preventive structure in national sports organisations to ensure a safe environment for children. The GUARD project is coordinated by the Croatian Olympic Committee, and the participating partners are the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the National Olympic Committees of Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Greece, Lithuania and North Macedonia.
The project is divided into three modules.
Module 1 was successfully implemented in all partner countries in 2025 – specifically in Slovenia, in Ljubljana, at the end of May. In total, 174 sports professionals from different sports and different countries are involved in the project.
The training sessions of Module 1 covered the following key topics:
- Introduction to child protection in sport
- National legal and regulatory frameworks
- Roles and responsibilities of child protection officers
- Interactive exercises based on scenarios and encouraging reflection and mutual learning
On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) hosted the educational module 2 in Zagreb, which was attended by more than 170 participants - child protection officers, experts and representatives of seven National Olympic Committees, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Croatia.
Representatives of various Olympic Committees, experts in the field of law and legislation, as well as experts in the fields of medicine and psychology, spoke during the conference.
Emma Thomas, a former athlete, sports ethicist and founder of Under the Ropes, from Great Britain, also shared her experience as a victim of abuse in elite sport. She reminded everyone present that it is everyone’s duty to prevent such experiences in the future and stressed the importance of adopting a trauma-focused and athlete-centred approach.
The afternoon session of the conference included international insights, including presentations from the Polish NOC, the Slovenian NOC and the EU EC Office. The SAFE HARBOUR project was also presented, which, together with the GUARD project, works with athletes across the Olympic Movement.
The final and final training module 3 will be delivered at national level in February 2026.
