Reporting a concern

England Athletics’ Welfare and Compliance team is here to support the sport by investigating concerns that are considered serious misconduct under our National Disciplinary Policy. These include, but are not limited to:

• • Safeguarding breaches involving children or adults at risk, which will be referred to UKA.

• • Physical violence or threats.

• • Fraud, theft, or doping violations.

• • Serious health and safety breaches.

• • Behaviour that may seriously damage the reputation of the sport or violate England Athletic’ core policies and values.

These types of cases may be referred to a formal Disciplinary Panel for investigation.
Investigations are carried out in line with our National Disciplinary Policy, which outlines how concerns are handled and when club-level resolution is appropriate.

Personal/relationship issues between members, matters outside of athletics or complaints about how the club is managed should be addressed by the club’s committee. Police investigations will always take primacy, but we do need to know if one of your members is involved in a criminal matter which may affect their suitability to be involved in athletics. So please let us know so we can take action if appropriate.

Concerns that fall below the threshold of serious misconduct – such as poor behaviour, minor disputes, or lower-level conduct issues – should be managed by your club, association, organisation or competition provider, in line with its own internal processes.

While England Athletics does not investigate club-level matters, our Welfare and Compliance team is available to offer advice and guidance to clubs on how to handle these situations effectively and in line with best practice.

For general club support on matters relating to governance, funding and training, our Club Support team are available to advise and support committees across the regions.

Useful resources for clubs, including guidance on internal disciplinary matters and Codes of Conduct, can be found on the England Athletics Club Hub.

Reporting incidents is vital for keeping everyone in our sport safe.

• gives us the chance to learn and improve where possible
• protects your club/event/competition and participants by showing you’re doing the right thing and looking after people.
• allows us to spot patterns and fix root causes before they become bigger problems.
• ensures those involved get the support they need. Following the process shows you care and are prepared to tackle difficult situations responsibly.
• helps EA to manage risk, which we want for Athletics, this contributes to reducing the cost of accidents which enable EA to invest more in the development of Athletics

• Clubs – If it happens during training or at your facility.
• Coaches & Team Managers – Often first on the scene and know the athletes.
• Competition Providers / Event Organisers – Responsible for overall event safety.
• Officials – They oversee the competition and may witness or manage the situation.
• Venue Operators – If the issue relates to the facility itself (e.g., track damage, equipment failure).
• Athletes and runners –may be part of an incident or accident or may witness one

• Accidents & Injuries – Anything from minor sprains to serious injuries needing medical attention.
• Near Misses – Situations where someone almost got hurt – these help prevent future accidents.
• Incidents – Equipment failure, unsafe behaviour, or breaches of rules.
• Fatalities –we want you to report these so we can support those affected by tragedy as far as possible