Safe sport – the only sport that matters

The Safe Sport International Global Conference 2026 took place at the University of Cape Town (UCT) from 25 to 27 May 2026, bringing together community practice, athlete voices, governance, law and research to explore how sport systems around the world can better protect those at the heart of sport. 

The conference was organised by Safe Sport International (SSI) – a United Kingdom (UK)-registered charity founded in 2014 and the first independent global organisation dedicated to preventing violence, harassment and abuse in sport. The event attracted over 450 delegates in person and over 60 online, including researchers, policy makers, athletes and sport administrators from 65 countries across the globe. 

Attendees spent three days immersed in sessions spanning the full spectrum of safeguarding in sport – from keynote presentations and research panels to workshops, survivor testimony and open regional discussions. 

The programme touched on topics like organisational readiness, case management and survivor-centred recovery, while also seeking to address more systemic issues, interrogating who holds accountability in sport and whose voices have historically been sidelined.  

“Hosting SafeSport26 was a privilege for the faculty because it exemplified the role universities can play in bringing together research, policy and practice to address complex societal challenges. We were particularly encouraged by the emphasis on knowledge mobilisation throughout the conference,” said the dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Professor Suki Goodman. 

“Hosting SafeSport26 reinforced our aspiration to establish UCT as a leading platform for Safe Sport research, policy development and capacity-building in Africa and the Global South.”

“Research has its greatest impact when it informs policy, strengthens practice and improves people’s lives. Hosting SafeSport26 reinforced our aspiration to establish UCT as a leading platform for Safe Sport research, policy development and capacity-building in Africa and the Global South.  

“As the first conference of its kind to be held in Africa, it created an important platform for African voices and experiences to contribute to the global safeguarding agenda.” 

Speakers and partners were drawn from a range of sporting organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, World Athletics, World Rugby, the Confederation of African Football, the US Center for SafeSport, UNESCO, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency, African Union Sports Council (AUSC), universities, as well as safeguarding organisations and practitioners across the world.  

The future of sport 

In his opening address, UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mosa Moshabela highlighted the role of sport in healing divisions and restoring human connection, particularly in the context of the current global climate. 

“People from all different walks of life are united by sport. Sport has the power to change the world. Sport has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in ways that little else does,” he said. 

“Sport occupies a very special place in our society. Sport can heal divisions and restore human connection, which is particularly important at the juncture at which we find ourselves in the world today. It is essentially the foundation upon which all meaningful participation, performance and development must stand.” 

Considering this power that sport holds to change social dynamics and uplift individuals to help them realise their full potential, Professor Moshabela noted, the discussion around safeguarding in sport is important.  

“Safeguarding in sport is an important human rights matter. It is an imperative that seeks to protect the integrity of sport itself, as well as athletes, to protect these things holistically – physically, emotionally, psychologically and socially. 

“What’s discussed in these rooms this week has the potential to affect generations to come – from those that are yet to enter the sporting arena for the first time, to elite athletes, coaches, sports leaders and institutions. It will affect how we go forward in building a culture of respect and accountability in sport.” 

Championing human dignity 

Building on the vice-chancellor’s idea, Dr Decius Chipande of the AUSC noted that platforms like SafeSport26 present an unmatched opportunity to collaborate and create spaces from which safe sport can be effectively stewarded. 

“We need an inclusive global dialogue to shape the future of safe sport and create sporting environments that are safe, inclusive, ethical and grounded in humanity and human dignity,” he said. 

“To address the challenges of abuse, exploitation and misconduct – which often remain underreported and inadequately addressed on the continent – we need stronger collaboration at national, sub-regional and global levels. 

“Every individual who enters a sporting environment deserves safety, dignity and respect.”

“Safeguarding in sport is a shared responsibility that cannot be addressed in isolation and the SafeSport26 conference provides a vital platform for dialogue, knowledge sharing and partnership building. It offers an opportunity to advance practical solutions and strengthen equitable safeguarding standards across regions.” 

Keitumetse Lebaka, board chairperson of Sport for Social Change Network Africa, added to this, noting that safeguarding in sport has far greater importance than the action of simply ticking compliance boxes. 

“Safeguarding is not about compliance,” she said. “It is about protecting human dignity. It is about protecting the dreams of young people – from those playing on dusty fields in villages and townships across our continent to athletes competing on the world stage … every individual who enters a sporting environment deserves safety, dignity and respect.” 

An African perspective 

SafeSport26 marked the first time the conference had been held on African soil, a decision that reflected SSI’s commitment to ensuring that African voices, experiences and contexts contribute meaningfully to the global safeguarding conversation. 

This was a point that Dr Lombe Mwambwa, the chief executive of the Global Observatory for Gender Equality & Sport, homed in on in her address. Opening with the Bemba proverb “Amano mambulwa” (knowledge is drawn from many sources), Dr Mwambwa highlighted that the nature of knowledge means it can never be located in one place or ranked by a single hierarchy. 

In this vein, she noted, providing a platform for diverse voices to join in on the conversation around safeguarding in sport can change the face of society. 

“The value of collaborating, of sharing and experiencing and thinking and producing together, of having others that you can bounce ideas off of, who can keep you accountable and provide you with support when you need it, that’s what’s really important. That helps us to mobilise knowledge so that we can create safer and more inclusive environments,” she shared. 

“Knowledge only becomes powerful when it moves into safeguarding systems; into governance structures; into communities; into cultures of accountability and care.”

Professor Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, the chairperson of the SSI Research Committee, emphasised this in her address, noting that knowledge mobilisation effected through events like SafeSport26 should be a core focus for all sports practitioners. 

“Research sitting in journals does not shift cultures. Policies left on shelves do not transform institutions. Frameworks, without trust and community engagement, risk reproducing silence rather than preventing harm,” she said. 

“All of us are knowledge keepers, but knowledge only becomes powerful when it moves into safeguarding systems; into governance structures; into communities; into cultures of accountability and care.” 

The real question, Professor Chatziefstathiou pointed out, is whether sport is building systems of accountability or merely systems of reputational management. The answer, she said, can only be found by opening the conversation to include the right people – not only policy makers and researchers, but athletes, communities and those the system has historically overlooked. 

Transformative potential 

The head of the School of Management Studies, Associate Professor David Maralack, added to this, emphasising the transformative potential that having an African university host SafeSport26 could have on this culture. 

“Hosting this conference reflects UCT’s commitment to becoming a platform for safe sport research, and contributing to documentation, policy development and systematic implementation across Africa and the Global South,” he said. 

“For too long, the experiences and challenges of athletes on our continent have been underrepresented in global scholarship, and that gap has left federations, officials and communities without the evidence and management systems they need to act.  

“Our aim is to establish a Safe Sport Research Platform, in close alliance with the African Union and our continental and global partners, for previously invisible voices to shape responsive frameworks and influence sport governance at every level. We hope to give effect to the refrain of the conference that Safe Sport is the only sport that matters.”