Football Clubs
Supporting football environments to strengthen safeguarding leadership, child protection awareness, professional practice and safer organisational cultures.
Part of Safeguarding.sa
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia
Protecting Children and Young People Across Sport
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia supports sports clubs, football academies, federations, schools, coaches, youth programmes and organisations across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to strengthen safeguarding, child protection, wellbeing and safer practice in sport.
Developed specifically for the Saudi context, we support organisations in strengthening safeguarding leadership, professional awareness, systems and everyday practice, informed by the Saudi Child Protection Law and its Executive Regulations.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia is the dedicated sport and youth safeguarding initiative of Safeguarding.sa.
Developed and delivered in Saudi Arabia by Elite Enrichment Services, part of Elite Group.
- Saudi Context
- Child Protection
- Safeguarding
- Sport & Youth
Child Protection
Every Child Has the Right to Feel Safe in Sport
Sport can play an important role in a child’s development.
It can build confidence, discipline, resilience, friendships, physical wellbeing and a sense of belonging.
The environments surrounding children and young people must also be safe.
Safeguarding in sport means creating environments where children are protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and avoidable harm, where their dignity and wellbeing are respected, and where adults understand their responsibilities towards them.
It means knowing how to recognise concerns, how to respond appropriately and how to create organisational cultures where children’s safety and wellbeing are taken seriously.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia exists to help organisations across the Kingdom move from safeguarding awareness to practical implementation and stronger safeguarding culture.
Saudi Context
Safeguarding in Sport in Saudi Arabia
Child Protection Extends Into Sport
Safeguarding children in sport forms part of the wider child protection environment in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Child Protection Law establishes protections for children against abuse and neglect and recognises children’s mental, emotional, physical, educational and developmental needs.
Importantly, the Law specifically addresses children’s participation in sport and recreation.
Saudi Child Protection Law: Article 13
Article 13 prohibits involving a child in races, sporting or recreational activities that pose a risk to the child’s safety or health.
The Executive Regulations for the Child Protection System provide further provisions concerning children’s sporting and recreational environments, including safety guidance, appropriate adult supervision, suitable safety measures and access to first-aid arrangements.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia supports organisations in understanding this wider child protection context and strengthening the leadership, professional capability, systems, awareness and culture required to safeguard children in practice.
What We Support
Safeguarding Across Sport, Football and Youth Environments
Safeguarding matters wherever children and young people participate in sport, physical activity and organised youth programmes.
Sports Clubs
Supporting organisations across different sporting disciplines to develop stronger safeguarding systems and safer environments for children and young people.
Sports Federations and Governing Bodies
Supporting safeguarding leadership, professional development, organisational capability and wider safeguarding implementation across sporting systems.
Football and Sports Academies
Helping academies strengthen the environments surrounding young athletes, including leadership, coaching practice, professional boundaries, reporting procedures and parent engagement.
Coaches and Sports Professionals
Building understanding of safeguarding responsibilities, recognising concerns, professional boundaries and appropriate responses when a child may need support or protection.
Schools and Educational Institutions
Supporting safeguarding across school sport, physical education, extracurricular activities, competitions, teams, trips and external sporting programmes.
Youth Centres and Youth Programmes
Supporting organisations responsible for children and young people beyond traditional educational environments.
Sports Camps and Recreational Programmes
Strengthening safeguarding awareness and practice wherever children participate in organised activities.
Parents and Families
Helping families understand safeguarding, child protection and what safer practice should look like within children’s sporting environments.
From Safeguarding Policy to Safeguarding Culture
Safeguarding is more than having a policy.
Strong safeguarding requires leadership, people, systems, professional confidence, accountability and culture to work together.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia supports organisations across areas including:
- Safeguarding and Child Protection Awareness
- Safeguarding Leadership Development
- Coach and Workforce Development
- Safeguarding Policies and Procedures
- Recognising Safeguarding Concerns
- Responding, Recording and Reporting
- Professional Boundaries and Codes of Conduct
- Safer Recruitment Awareness
- Digital and Online Safeguarding
- Safeguarding Risk Assessment
- Sports Camps, Competitions and Trips
- Parent and Community Awareness
- Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
- Organisational Safeguarding Reviews
- Safeguarding Culture and Continuous Improvement
Our aim is not simply to help organisations complete safeguarding training.It is to help safeguarding become part of everyday organisational practice.
Training & Development
Safeguarding Training for Sport in Saudi Arabia
Building Knowledge, Confidence and Professional Judgement
People working with children need more than policies.
They need the confidence to recognise when something may be wrong, understand their responsibilities and know how to respond appropriately.
Through Safeguarding.sa, Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia provides contextualised safeguarding and child protection professional development for organisations working with children and young people.
Our safeguarding training and professional learning can support:
- Coaches
- Club Staff
- Academy Staff
- Volunteers
- Teachers
- Sports Leaders
- Safeguarding Leads
- Senior Leaders
- Parents
- Communities
Programmes can be contextualised for different sporting and youth environments and delivered in Arabic and English.
Practical, Contextualised Safeguarding
Safeguarding Decisions Happen in Real Situations
- A coach notices a sudden change in a young athlete’s behaviour.
- A child says something concerning after training.
- A parent raises an issue about another adult.
- A member of staff witnesses behaviour that does not feel appropriate.
- Someone has a concern but is uncertain about what should happen next.
Safeguarding requires more than knowing definitions.
Professionals need the confidence to recognise, think, respond and escalate appropriately.
Through the wider Safeguarding.sa professional learning platform, organisations can engage with realistic, contextualised safeguarding scenarios designed to strengthen professional judgement, decision-making and safeguarding awareness.
Our approach connects professional learning with situations that adults working with children and young people may actually encounter within the Saudi context.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Safeguarding and Wellbeing Belong Together
A safe sporting environment considers more than physical safety.
Children and young people should participate in environments that recognise their emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing.
The Saudi Child Protection Law recognises children’s mental, emotional and physical needs.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia therefore connects safeguarding and child protection with the wider wellbeing capability being developed through MentalHealth.sa.
Safeguarding and Child Protection
Safeguarding.sa
Supporting safeguarding leadership, professional learning, awareness, systems and institutional capability across Saudi Arabia.
Visit Safeguarding.sa (opens in a new tab)Sport and Youth Safeguarding
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia
Extending safeguarding and child protection capability into football, sport, academies, clubs, youth programmes and recreational environments.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
MentalHealth.sa
Supporting mental health and wellbeing awareness and healthier institutional environments.
Visit MentalHealth.sa (opens in a new tab)Building Safeguarding Capability Across Saudi Arabia
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia forms part of a wider mission to strengthen safeguarding and child protection capability across the Kingdom.
Through Safeguarding.sa, our work is being developed across environments responsible for children and young people:
- Education
- Sport
- Youth
- Community
Safer Organisations.Stronger Safeguarding.Better Protection for Children.
Our focus extends beyond individual safeguarding training sessions.
We aim to strengthen the leadership, professional capability, systems, awareness and organisational culture that allow safeguarding to become part of everyday institutional practice.
As opportunities for children and young people continue to grow across Saudi Arabia, safeguarding capability should develop alongside them.
Supporting Saudi Arabia’s Future
Saudi Arabia’s continued development across sport, education, youth participation and quality of life is creating new opportunities for children and young people to learn, participate, compete and develop.
Safeguarding has an important role within that journey.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia supports organisations in strengthening the environments, professional practice and organisational systems surrounding children and young people.
Our work contributes to the wider principles of child protection, wellbeing, human capability development and safer participation, supporting strong and sustainable environments for the Kingdom’s children and young people.
Saudi Context
Grounded in the Saudi Context
Our safeguarding approach is informed by the Saudi regulatory and institutional environment surrounding children and young people, including:
- Saudi Child Protection Law
- Executive Regulations for the Child Protection System
- Saudi General Education Law, where relevant to schools and educational sporting environments
- Relevant sector and organisational requirements
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia helps organisations translate safeguarding principles into practical professional awareness, development and implementation.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia provides safeguarding education, professional development and organisational support. Information provided through the platform is for professional awareness and does not constitute legal advice. Organisations remain responsible for understanding and meeting the legislation, regulations and requirements applicable to them.
Safeguarding.sa
Part of Safeguarding.sa
One Safeguarding Mission. Different Environments.
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia is the dedicated sport and youth safeguarding initiative of Safeguarding.sa.
Safeguarding.sa is a Saudi-focused safeguarding and child protection platform supporting professional learning, safeguarding leadership, awareness and institutional capability.
Safeguarding Sport extends this work specifically into:
- Football
- Sport
- Sports Academies
- Sports Clubs
- Federations
- Youth Programmes
- Community
- Recreation
SAFEGUARDING.SA
- EDUCATION
- SPORT
- YOUTH
- COMMUNITY
SAFER ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Delivered in Saudi Arabia by Elite Enrichment Services
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia and Safeguarding.sa are developed and delivered in the Kingdom through Elite Enrichment Services, the Saudi operating company within Elite Group.
Elite Enrichment Services works across education, safeguarding, child protection, professional development and institutional capability.
Our safeguarding approach combines Saudi contextualisation with international professional experience, supporting organisations to develop safeguarding practice appropriate to the Kingdom’s legal, cultural and institutional environment.
Safeguarding and child protection form a core part of our work, alongside mental health and wellbeing awareness through MentalHealth.sa.
Part of Elite Group
Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia forms part of the wider Elite Group ecosystem.
Elite Group brings together Saudi delivery capability, UK professional expertise and specialist initiatives across safeguarding, education, professional development and wellbeing.
Our connected structure brings together:
- Safeguarding.sa
- Safeguarding and Child Protection
- Safeguarding Sport Saudi Arabia
- Sport and Youth Safeguarding
- MentalHealth.sa
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Elite Enrichment Services
- Saudi Delivery and Implementation
Together, these initiatives support a wider commitment to strengthening the people, organisations and environments responsible for children and young people.
Founder
Our Founder
Sajid Khan FCCT
Founder, Safeguarding.sa | Founder & Group CEO, Elite Group
Sajid Khan FCCT is a British education leader, safeguarding practitioner and Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.
He is the Founder & Group CEO of Elite Group and Founder of Safeguarding.sa, established to strengthen safeguarding and child protection capability within the Saudi context.
His professional background spans educational leadership, pastoral leadership and direct safeguarding and child protection responsibility, including experience as a Designated Safeguarding Lead.
His work brings together safeguarding leadership, professional learning, technology and institutional development, with a focus on strengthening safeguarding capability across education, sport, youth and other environments responsible for children and young people.
Strengthen Safeguarding in Your Organisation
Whether you represent a sports club, football academy, federation, school, youth programme, sports centre or another organisation working with children and young people, we welcome conversations about strengthening safeguarding within your environment.