Safeguarding: the policies, the officers and where reports go.

FIE: the Safeguarding Policy

• The document. The FIE Safeguarding Policy is Chapter XIII of the FIE Statutes (December 2018 edition). It commits the FIE to an environment free of harassment, abuse and discrimination, supplements the Disciplinary Code (Statutes Chapter VII), and applies to everyone in the FIE Community as the Ethics Code (Chapter XII) defines it, at all ages and levels, in person and online.
• What it covers. It defines psychological abuse, physical abuse (including training loads unsuited to age or physique, and forced doping), sexual harassment, sexual abuse and neglect.
• Officers at events. The FIE Executive Committee appoints at least two Safeguarding Officers, one male and one female, at each World Championships; at Open and Junior World Cups the FIE Supervisor acts as safeguarding officer. Officers report to the FIE Bureau and administrative office.
• Reporting. Reports can be made through an online form on the FIE's Safe Sport page or by email, seen only by the safeguarding officers. The FIE announced its safeguarding arrangements at championships on 11 March 2019.

Changes adopted at the 2025 Congress

The FIE's published record of decisions of the Congress in Manama on 22 November 2025 shows the amendments below. They were read from the document's tracked changes, not from a clean amended text of the Statutes or the Technical Rules.

• Referees, coaches and designated officials at FIE events must tell the FIE of any current safe sport allegation, sanction or conviction before accepting an assignment, and the FIE Safeguarding Officer may put protective measures in place (Statutes Chapter XIII as amended).
• National federations must notify the FIE at once of bans imposed on FIE licence holders for safeguarding breaches or criminal offences, and the FIE will apply the same sanction for its duration (Statutes 1.2.7).
• Respect for the Safeguarding Policy is written into Technical Rules t.109 as amended, and a breach at a competition is named as grounds for the referee or Directoire Technique to remove a person from the venue (t.111 to t.113 in the December 2024 edition).

The FIE's 2025 Anti-Doping Operational Instructions also list considering possible safeguarding issues among the duties of the FIE Anti-Doping Officer at an event.

United States: the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Fencing

• The Center. The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 authorises the U.S. Center for SafeSport to develop training and policies to prevent abuse in the US Olympic and Paralympic movement. Its 2025 Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP), published on 5 January 2024 and in effect from 1 January 2025, have four parts: organisational requirements, an education and training policy for certain adults, required policies limiting one-on-one contact between adults and minor athletes (meetings, individual training, manual therapy, locker rooms, electronic messages, transport and lodging), and recommended policies.
• USA Fencing's programme. USA Fencing calls its safeguarding programme FenceSafe. Its MAAPP page carries the 2025 USA Fencing MAAPP (the file is named with a 1 September 2024 effective date), sample consent forms and a link for reports.
• Where reports go. USA Fencing says child abuse (sexual or physical) and sexual misconduct are reported directly to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, while emotional misconduct, physical misconduct and MAAPP violations are reported to USA Fencing.
• Background checks. USA Fencing's Athlete Handbook 2023-2024 (Chapter 15) says its screening and background check programme applies to people aged 18 and over with regular athlete contact, including employees, board and committee members, officials, coaches, volunteers and medical staff, and that event officials need a valid background screen and completed SafeSport training. It also records that the SafeSport Code superseded USA Fencing's own FenceSafe Policy under bylaws effective 31 July 2017.

Published sanctions lists, without names

• USA Fencing publishes an Ineligible/Suspended List. When the research read it on 26 October 2026 it held roughly 23 ineligible-member entries (about 6 marked permanently ineligible) and about 14 temporary suspension or ineligibility entries, the latest dated 23 October 2026; the counts are approximate. The list states that where the Center has exclusive jurisdiction, USA Fencing's temporary measures are an administrative hold, not a finding of guilt or innocence, and the Center decides the underlying allegations.
• The Center's Centralized Disciplinary Database publishes only decisions that could pose a risk to the wider sport community, such as certain temporary restrictions during an investigation and suspensions or ineligibility after a violation is established. It does not publish cases with a minor respondent, restrictions specific to one party, or sanctions such as formal warnings or probation.

British Fencing

• The policy. The British Fencing Safeguarding Policy, version 2.1, places a duty of care on everyone in British Fencing to safeguard children and adults at risk, states that their welfare is paramount, and is mandatory for staff, volunteers, members, affiliated clubs and other recognised organisations. It commits to safe recruitment with the necessary checks, a nominated safeguarding lead and a board member leading on safeguarding, and review every three years or when required by the CPSU, UK Sport or home country sports councils. Failure to comply may lead to dismissal, loss of membership or exclusion from fencing.
• The approval date is given two ways. The file's name says it was reapproved on 27 January 2026, while the document itself says it was last approved on 25 January 2026 (and last updated on 28 October 2022).
• Coaches. The Safety Guidelines (23rd edition, June 2026, Appendix 3) say British Fencing keeps a central register of qualified coaches, that some roles need extra safeguarding training and criminal record checks, and that affiliated clubs must use BF-registered coaches.
• Sanctions list. British Fencing publishes disciplinary, grievance and welfare cases that led to sanctions through BF or the courts, with names and details possibly redacted. When the research read it, it held one entry, dated 8 July 2015, imposing restrictions on activities such as coaching and refereeing that involve contact with children or vulnerable adults, after a Sports Resolutions appeal hearing. The current Disciplinary Code is version 2.1 (April 2025), covering breaches after 1 January 2024.

Canada: Fencing Canada (Canadian Fencing Federation)

• Canadian Safe Sport Program. Fencing Canada has adopted the programme, in effect from 1 April 2025, under which Sport Integrity Canada independently administers the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) for federally funded national sport organisations, with an independent third party for people who are not UCCMS participants.
• Abuse-Free Sport. The federation announced that it had signed on to Abuse-Free Sport, with access to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, effective 31 March 2023.
• Policies and checks. Its Board approved a revised Safe Sport Policy Manual on 29 March 2023, later revised for the national programme. It requires criminal background checks for certified coaches, staff, volunteers and activity leaders, has taken the Responsible Coaching Movement pledge (the Rule of Two, background screening, and respect and ethics training), and requires Respect in Sport training for activity leaders in its programmes.

Age limits and the rules for minors at FIE events are on youth rules.