In recent years, maternity support in elite sport has shifted from an overlooked issue to a central focus of policy development. Major initiatives such as the WTA Maternity Fund, introduced in 2025, and AC Milan’s groundbreaking policy in August 2024, which guarantees automatic one-year contract renewals for players who become pregnant in the final year of their contract, highlight a growing recognition of the need to better support athlete mothers.

If your organisation has never received a safeguarding concern, it can feel reassuring. After all, no reports must mean nothing is happening, right? Unfortunately, this assumption can be one of the greatest risks and a barrier to proper safeguarding within a sports setting.

Safeguarding should be visible in everyday behaviours, decision making and interactions, not just referenced when something goes wrong. Historically, a safeguarding policy has been seen as the final step in sports safeguarding, with many organisations still taking this view. However, for effective safeguarding, a policy has to be seen as just the first step.