Common Goal Safeguarding

Reporting an incident

How to report an incident 

At Common Goal, we are committed to offering protection to all people participating in and in contact with our organisation’s activities. Our organisation respects national and international laws and standards on the safeguarding and protection of all children and vulnerable adults.  

With the aim of effectively safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults in our programmes, Common Goal has created the following report form where individuals can submit an incident. 

Please submit your report here

• Please note that the maximum attachment size is 7MB and that anything beyond cannot be attached. If you need to send a file over 7MB, you can use "wetransfer" (or a similar platfomr) to upload your files there and insert the link in the body of your complaint, or explain in the body of your complaint if you experienced any issues to send a file, so you can receive support.)

• If you have trouble submitting your report through the form, please submit directly to Common Goal’s Safeguarding Lead via the following email address: safeguarding@common-goal.org

The Common Goal Safeguarding Committee operates under strict confidentiality and has the mandate to investigate all such matters as and when they arise. 

About Common Goal's safeguarding

Common Goal has safeguarding policies and tools in place, as well as trained staff who supervise the implementation of these policies and tools, to ensure appropriate training for all children, coaches and staff with the aim of effectively safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults in our programmes. Furthermore, we guarantee respect and support for anyone who may have been exposed to any kind of abuse while in the care of our organisation.  

Common Goal is also a signatory of the International Safeguards for Children in Sports. As such, we abide to the following principles: 

• All children have the right to participate, enjoy and develop through sport, in a safe and inclusive environment, free from all forms of abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation

• Children have the right to have their voices heard and listened to. They need to know who they can turn to when they have a concern about their participation in sport

• Everyone, organizations and individuals, service providers and funders, has a responsibility to support the care and protection of young people

• Organisations providing sports activities to children and young people have a duty of care to them

• There are certain factors that leave some children more vulnerable to abuse, and steps need to be taken to address this

• Children have a right to be involved in shaping safeguarding policy and practice

• Organisations should always act in the best interests of the child

• Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and not be discriminated against based on gender, race, age, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, beliefs, religious or political affiliation

• The processes and activities for the creation, development and implementation of safeguarding measures should be inclusive 

Common Goal is committed to take a stance towards leveraging safeguarding in the sector of football for good. As part of the governance structure of the Common Goal Community, Common Goal coordinates a Safeguarding Committee that receives and processes safeguarding related incidents. Players, programme participants, parents and legal guardians, volunteers, coaches, staff members, board members and leaders are welcome to use the incident reporting mechanism to reach out to the Safeguarding Committee. 

Common Goal Community Safeguarding Resources:

Common Goal Community Safeguarding Policy

Common Goal Community Safeguarding Report-handling Mechanism

Common Goal Safeguarding Committee members

Eliud Akanga 

I am a co-founder of Transforming Young Stars of Africa (TYSA) based in Kenya and passionate about holistic social development of children and young people. I was a key contributor to development of the TYSA safeguarding policy and currently a member of the Common Goal Community safeguarding committee since May 2022.

Delroy Alexander

Delroy is an advisory board member of the International Safeguarding Children in Sport – a UNICEF initiative and has led child safeguarding efforts in the Caribbean for over a decade. In 2018, he was recognized, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as the 16th Commonwealth Point of Light Awardee in honour of efforts leading sports for development youth programmes in the region.

Natasha Bredekamp 

Natasha Bredekamp,Project Manager at the Grootbos Foundation, I have been working in the Sports for good sector for more than 15 years and I believe that safe spaces for children are vital in their development and growth. I take a very firm stance on the safeguarding of children and find that being part of the committee allows me to ensure that more children are protected and safe during play. 

Rose Gastler 

Originally from the US with a background in International Relations, Rose has worked for Yuwa--an organization focused on girls' empowerment in rural Jharkhand, India--since 2012.  Rose is the founder of Yuwa School, and acted as the Principal from 2015 - 2021. With extensive grassroots experience in designing and implementing safeguarding practices in a remote and challenging environment, Rose is committed to sharing best practices, open discussions about mistakes made and lessons learned, and the continuous process of striving to create environments where young people are safe and protected.   

Yianny Ioannou 

Yianny has been the Safeguarding Lead and is Director of Operations for Tackle where he has worked for the last 13 years. He is a member of the UNICEF backed International Safeguards in Sports core working group as well as being a trained safeguarding investigator and facilitator.

Pavithra K.L. 

Pavithra joined Dream a Dream’s life skills programme as a young adolescent girl and has grown within the organization as a passionate leader responsible for designing and demonstrating programs aimed at redefining the purpose of education. As an Associate Director of Direct Impact, a 50+ member team engaging with 7000+ young people, she believes in creating robust support systems for young people, particularly by creating a safe, enabling, and protected environment where young people thrive.

Liana Laubscher 

Liana has been heading Altus Sport for the past 29 years with the aim to empower people to make informed decisions. Accountability and responsibility around safeguarding is a topic close to her heart and through networking and staying informed, she believes every person has the right to live free from any form of abuse.

Gilbert Ndayambaje 

Gilbert NDAYAMBAJE is vice president of Association de Jeunes Sportif de Kigali Esperance member of Common Goal. He is practicing Lawyer in Rwanda and has experience in football for development over 20 years and He has Master’s (LLM) in Public International Law (KIU).

Yair Rogelio Ruiz Cruz

Rogelio has more than 18 years of experience as an educator. He is a devoted advocate for human rights, specifically for the well-being of children and adolescents. He specializes in protection and safeguarding initiatives for youth, focusing on creating safe spaces for their personal, family, and community development in Mexico. 

Daniel Thomae 

Daniel is the co-founder and Safeguarding Focal Point of training4changeS in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He has extensive experience in safeguarding, including helping develop the Safer Play e-course. Daniel is passionate about creating safe, inclusive and healing centred environments.

Timea Turcsik 

Even as a litle kid I loved to help others, so after completing my socialpedagyogy degree, I started to work for Oltalom Sport Association, where I can work with kids and adults from different disadvantaged backgrounds. I would like to show how skills acquired in sport can be used in real life.