I was first asked the question “is the system broken?” back in 2017, just as I joined the British Athletes Commission (BAC) – an organisation that represents the interests of athletes – as its chair. The implication of the question was clear: is there systematically unfair or abusive treatment of athletes going on in the UK? Having been a Paralympic athlete, having not experienced or witnessed poor practice within my sport, and having worked for the Paralympic GB team in an athlete services role for three Olympic games, I felt confident in my answer that no it wasn’t broken, just in need of a little repair.
During the first couple of years as chair, however, as I worked to build a robust and credible team at the BAC, I came to realise that those “creaks in the floorboards” were much more frequent than I first thought. The caseload at the BAC has varied, with support being sought most notably in the areas of selection for teams, grievance, disciplinary and mental health. The number of cases has increased year on year, and more than 150 athletes have been supported across 28 sports since I joined. I do not necessarily think that problems are escalating – more that athletes are starting to trust us and what we do, and therefore reaching out more frequently.
Much like the Netflix documentary Athlete A, which documents the abuse of US Olympic gymnasts by Larry Nassar, the news about British Gymnastics this week that multiple elite athletes have alleged serious physical and emotional abuse prompted overwhelming feelings of sadness and anger within me that such practices still exist in sport. My next response was to question how we can be better, how we can prevent this from happening again. I feel so strongly that underpinning the high-performance sport system should be an independent organisation such as the BAC to ensure abuse of this nature is stopped in its tracks. Never is it OK to not inform the parents that their child has been struck on the leg by their coach. Never should any form of power be used to mentally, emotionally or physically harm someone else. That is not what sport is about.
When athletes are brave enough to put their heads above the parapet and report allegations of improper conduct, these allegations should always be thoroughly and robustly, independently investigated. British Gymnastics has announced an independent review – but I am still to be convinced that this “independent review” is independent enough. As I currently understand it, it has chosen the QC who will review the case, it has entered an agreement with the reviewer and already agreed the terms of the review, it has agreed to assist in the administration of the process, and it will pay the QC for her service. If true, this does not appear to be independent, and it is not a review that the BAC supports. We owe it to our athletes to ensure it becomes thoroughly independent so that their concerns have been heard and have been taken seriously, not brushed under the carpet. That is why the BAC exists, to protect athletes and to hold the system to account.
A spokesperson for British Gymnastics said that the review would be independent, with its terms of reference to be published as soon as possible. They added: “The review’s conclusions and recommendations will be the QC’s alone. British Gymnastics will do everything needed to support the review, but will not seek to influence it in any way. We are determined to get to the bottom of these issues and learn lessons that will help the sport.”
There are more than 1,200 elite athletes on the world-class funding pathway (this means they have received an athlete personal allowance from UK Sport, the funding body for Olympic sport in Britain, and as such are already competing at an international level) – just over 5% of these athletes are under the age of 18. They are split between Olympic and Paralympic sports, both summer and winter, and their voices must be allowed to be heard. The duty of care review by Tanni Grey-Thompson in 2017 stipulated the need for the government to fund independently an organisation to provide the best support to our athletes to increase confidence in grievance and dispute resolution. There has never been a greater need for athletes to have an organisation they can truly have faith in for its integrity and independence within the high-performance system. It is untenable for national governing bodies to control the concerns and complaints process from within. Currently, my own organisation receives almost 100% of its funding from UK Sport; there are clear arguments, and athlete support, for financial “clear blue water” between the two organisations in order to properly represent athletes’ interests.
On reflection, especially over the last week, I feel saddened that athletes who have been affected at British Gymnastics, and athletes from other sports, have felt they had nowhere else to turn to but the media. This must change.
Victoria Aggar is chair of the British Athletes Commission
