A Call for implementing minimum age condition to protect young athletes‘ human rights

Abstract

Sport is considered a favorable activity for children. Through participating in sport, children can acquire several skills and develop character traits like cooperation, teamwork, resilience, and focus. Nevertheless, it has been argued that children’s rights might be violated in sport at an elite level, primarily due to the intensive training given at an early age. More specifically, it was reported that approximately 20 percent of children involved in competitive sports may be at risk of abuse, violence, or exploitation, while 10 percent may be at risk of extreme abuse. This paper focusses on the lack of international law provisions to protect children who participate in elite sports and hence argue for a more effective protection. This gives rise to the need for an enforcement mechanism in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) specifically for elite-level sports. Thus, the international law could have a positive impact on domestic laws regarding young athletes in competitive sports. As a possible way through, this paper will examine the idea of imposing minimum age limit, including legal examples, as a potential solution to help protect children’s rights in sport.