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News
Review Tuesday, October 29,
2002
| Child Protection
Unit Report Due |
A report into child abuse by the Child
Protection in Sport Unit is due to be published this month (October) and is expected to
state that over 750 cases of child abuse at the hands of coaches were reported over the
past year.
The reports findings, and recent high
profile cases, will force the government to implement new policies to ensure that coaches
and other people who work with kids are properly vetted.
The abuse cases reported ranged from
swearing at and intimidating children into training too hard to serious allegations of
rape, with 36 cases being reported to the police.
The CPSU also found that in some cases the
allegations were false, made up by parents who wanted to "get their on back" on
the coaching staff because their child was not chosen for a team or competition.
New technology has also been highlighted,
with more aggressive coaches text messaging their charges to exert pressure outside normal
training times.
So far around 80 sports organisations have
signed up to the CPSU, which is run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children and funded by the National Lottery. |
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| Robo Ref! |
Could this be the end of the arguments
for soccer? No more dodgy decisions. no more arguments with the linesman and no more
bar-room experts?
Referees could soon be using new
technology from Germany. The scientists have stitched tiny, light-weight microchips into
footballs and shin guards, allowing the officials to see exactly where the ball is at any
point.
The system, designed by Cairos
Technologies of Karlsruhe in southwest Germany, relies upon ten antennas around the
stadium, with signals form the micro-chips being processed by a central computer.
The ref has an armband with a control
centre built into it, and at the press of a button he gets the millimeter perfect answer
to any disputed call.
And why did a German company develop the
gadget? The scientists listed England's victory in the 1966 World Cup as the main
motivator - did the ball cross the line at Wembley all those years ago? We all know the
answer anyway! |
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| Eight Year Old
Punches Ref |
An eight year old boy is being
investigated by the Football Association (FA) after he punched a referee in the stomach
during a match in Huddersfield.
Under current rules the boy faces a
lengthy ban from the game. Reporting restrictions prevent us giving the names of those
involved, but the incident is being seen as something of a test case.
The reporting of assaults and bad language
on and off the pitch at junior sports events appears to be increasing and there are calls
from many quarters for such incidents to be dealt with more effectively. |
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What do you think about the
Huddersfield case? What would be an apt response to the punch being thrown? Do you feel
that society in general is becoming more violent, or perhaps you have experienced
intimidation or aggression yourself? Drop us a line and we will publish the best comments
we get.
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