Exactly Kim, an important point made here. When it comes to complaints and sanctions, leaving options and consent for parents and gymnasts in the mix means it may prove hard to get panels to hand out suspensions and bans - putting the burden of proof again on the child.

More on ITV News at 10pm shortly

BG’s admission that breaching these ‘new policies’ amounts to ‘physical abuse’ is significant, however they are currently still failing to sanction coaches for perpetrating clear cases of abuse and what were formerly ‘guideline violations’ via their own Complaints Process.

Dino Nocivelli
‘On the fringes of abuse’
‘Bordering on abuse’ etc.
Why is only sexual abuse criminalised?
Behaviour of ‘hard taskmasters’, the very worst of it, ought to be CRIMINAL

Did a lot of gymnastics as a child. New rules necessary and good to see (finally) although having to tell coaches not to unnecessarily weigh gymnasts and to allow them to have fluids and use the toilet when needed really shouldn’t be necessary 🙄🤨 theguardian.com/sport/2023/nov…

Since the publication of the Whyte Review in June 2022, no coaches have been banned via the Independent Complaints Process, a process that was set up by BG to investigate serious complaints from the Whyte Review.

Gymnasts for Change welcome the new policies being introduced today by British Gymnastics. However, the policies are meaningless without a robust welfare, investigation & complaints system that delivers resolutions on behalf of complainants. Breaches of policy must be sanctioned

Without establishing a more robust complaints process, Gymnasts for Change cannot have faith in BG’s ability to enforce the policies they have put in place, and as such BG continues to engage in acts of disguised compliance and ongoing institutional betrayal.

BG’s admission that breaching these new policies amounts to ‘physical abuse’ is significant, however they are currently still failing to sanction coaches for perpetrating clear cases of abuse and guideline violations via their own Independent Complaints Process.

Huge 🙏🏻 to Eloise Jotischky for raising awareness of BG’s failed complaints process. Safeguarding policies are meaningless unless abusive coaching practices are sanctioned and abusive coaches are removed from the sport. To date BG has failed to ban any coaches since the Whyte Review.

Fallen Short Let’s hope it brings an end to the hours of ‘morning training’ at clubs across the country where families are wrongly persuaded by ambitious coaches (or clubs managing logistics) that regularly missing the first lessons of a school day is essential to their gymnastics ‘career’.

BG’s admission that breaching these new policies amounts to ‘physical abuse’ is significant, however they are currently still failing to sanction coaches for perpetrating clear cases of abuse and guideline violations via their own Independent Complaints Process.

I never tell my story publicly. Always wanted to make sure the younger people were heard, but actually they helped me get brave. Felt good. Speak your truth. ❤️🙏🏽Abby Spadafora Melanie Hunt Ryan Sheehan

Fantastic work from Monique:

Why oh why do BG continue to run with these toxic narratives that it is the parents causing the problems?

Working with Parents in Sport Gymnastics is not football‼️

Be carefully who you get your info from before ‘educating’ BG on something you know little about. 🤯

I fixed it for you Working with Parents in Sport

The ‘banned and expelled’ list has surely got to evolve soon to include those coaches under active sanctions. Only then can it be a meaningful safeguarding tool AND meet Whyte’s call for “consequences” that are “sufficiently visible”.

I don’t yet know one complainant who has walked away from from an investigation & panel / disciplinary hearing who feels that the the process they participated in was satisfactory, or the consequence ‘sufficiently visible’ to instil confidence.

Still zero confidence in BG

Underwhelmed is the most charitable thing I can say about BG's list of Expelled Members.
Without a detailed explanation of the criteria used it's impossible to understand the absence of known abusive coaches who've been expelled or are currently suspended.
british-gymnastics.org/banned-expelle…

'We have consistently advocated for British Gymnastics to take a more transparent approach by publicly identifying coaches responsible for harming children through emotionally and physically abusive coaching techniques.”

What the list doesn’t include is coaches who’ve been sanctioned, required to retrain and are under supervision orders; sometimes lasting 12 months.
That means parents / gymnasts could be unaware the coach they intend to use was once considered a safeguarding risk.