On Thursday 13 June, the Japan Football Association (JFA) announced their pledge to support the “Children's Rights in Sport Principles,” a notion announced by the UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and the Japan Committee for UNICEF in November 2018.

The JFA has already announced their “The Declaration – Ensure Safety of Football Family” in May 2019, a declaration created based on the same principles. In order to provide a safe and secure environment for all children and football families to enjoy the sport of football, the JFA will continue to take a multi angle approach, such as combat verbal and physical abuse, promote proper assignment of coaches, provide medical support, and educate measures taken under extreme hot weather.

UNICEF“Children's Rights in Sport Principles”

Attendees’ Comments

HAYAMIZU Ken, Executive Director of Japan Committee for UNICEF
On 20 November of last year, the UNICEF and the Japan Committee for UNICEF has announced the “Children’s Rights in Sport Principles” with hopes that sports would genuinely promote sound growth and prosperous lives for our children. During the announcement, Commissioner of Japan Sports Agency Mr. SUZUKI Daichi mentioned that our “Principles” shares the same concept and philosophy with the Basic Act on Sport. Upon our announcement, we were joined by the Japan Sports Association, the Japan Para-Sports Association, the Japanese Olympic Committee, and the Japanese Paralympic Committee. At this time, I am happy to announce that the JFA has pledged their support to our “Principles,” making them the first member of the National Sports Federation to join our pledge.

Sports possesses an important power to promote children’s sound growth, regardless of their age, gender, place of birth, or whether or not they have any disabilities. The UNICEF has utilised the power of sports in efforts to provide mental care for children in disaster-stricken areas, in activities to promote peace, and in many other occasions. We however are also aware that, globally, there are cases of sports adversely affecting children through violence and abuse in the recent years. In hopes to restore the true value of sports and to protect the rights of every child, we developed these “Principles” to set a guideline for all adults involved in sports.

The JFA has announced their support to our principles and led their ways within the football community through the “The Declaration – Ensure Safety of Football Family” to implement the principles, and it is very encouraging to have their full support. We hope that other sports will follow the football community, and we will continue to give our efforts to spread the notion.

TASHIMA Kohzo, JFA President
The JFA supports UNICEF’s “Children's Rights in Sport Principles” and we have developed “The Declaration – Ensure Safety of Football Family” based on their principles. Through many activities, the JFA has been making countless efforts to combat verbal and physical abuse. However, these violations remain to be a persistent issue at the training fields. In other words, children’s rights to enjoy playing football is constantly getting violated as we speak.

In order to allow our children to truly enjoy the sport of football and to allow them to get involved with football throughout their lives, we are committed to showcase our stance of zero tolerance towards any form of abuse. By addressing the issues of disciplinary punishments, re-educating the coaches, and developing a mentor system for the coaches, the JFA is taking a multi angle approach to eliminate abuse. We have also implemented clauses that will provide safe and secure environments for the children and families by providing medical support to the players, educating appropriate measures taken under extreme hot weathers, and arranging appropriate environments based on the children’s needs.

As a registered member of the United Nations Global Compact, the JFA will continue to make efforts that complies with our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UNICEF’s “Children's Rights in Sport Principles.” Through our activities, we hope to lay a foundation that allows our football family to acknowledge and be proud of the fact that football is contributing to the sound growth of the children and prosperous development of the local community.

We are committed to protect the rights of the children and to solve the issues surrounding them, and we sincerely hope that our activities will spread to provide better football environments for the children.

SEKIZUKA Takashi, JFA Technical Director
In December 2016, HASEBE Makoto was appointed as the Ambassador of Japan Committee for UNICEF. Ever since his first selection to the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) in 2006, he has never forgotten to thank his teammates, fans, and supporters during his 12-and-a-half-year stint with the national team, and he always gave his utmost efforts, both as a professional football player and as a human being. His sincere attitude still inspires us to this day. We hope that there will be more players like HASEBE, who carries a perspective of “What can I do to help the society,” where their contributions are not only limited to the football community, but in a broader sense.

The “Children's Rights in Sport Principles” hopes to see everyone involved in football contributing to build a society where sports can support the sound growth of children, while the children’s rights are being protected. As coaches, we must not rely only on our experience, but always stay current on our expertise to support the technical, physical, and mental growths of the players. We have the responsibility to believe in their immense possibilities, support their dreams, and encourage them to achieve their goals.

We will continue to promote the “The Declaration – Ensure Safety of Football Family” to provide a safe and secure environment for our future generations, while staying true to the “Children's Rights in Sport Principles.”