Bullying in Sports
This campaign aims to transform the global conversation about bullying in professional sports and inspire positive change across the entire sports ecosystem by leveraging our powerful keynote presentation coupled with an upcoming original podcast series.
Objectives
- Raise awareness about bullying in professional sports.
- Promote a culture of respect, inclusivity, and fair play.
- Engage athletes, fans, and sports organizations in conversations about reducing the harm from bullying.
- Provide actionable solutions and resources.
What's the Problem?
Professional Sports in Crisis
“Caster Semenya is humbly focused on her running, and we stand by our champion and against bullies. We call on Ratcliffe’s sponsors, publishers and business partners to respect Semenya’s human rights and protect her bodily integrity and wellbeing,”
— PETITION LAUNCHED TO COUNTER FALLOUT FROM COMMENTS BY BRITISH ATHLETE PAULA RADCLIFFE AGAINST CASTER SEMENYA
“…the pressure and scrutiny I came under after the World Cup final, along with a torrent of criticism and abuse online, has helped to reaffirm that this is the right decision for me at this point in my life. While it’s a privilege to be at the heart of some of the sport’s most iconic moments, the increasing levels of vitriol, when the demands and expectations are so high, have led me to this moment.”
— COMMENTATOR TOM FOLEY ANNOUNCING HIS RETIREMENT FROM WORLD RUGBY
“We need to draw a line in the sand and say we are going to do something about it. I don’t mind putting my head above the parapet because I’ve retired and don’t need to be political from a rugby point of view, without that fear of not being selected for a game.”
— WAYNE BARNES, REFEREE WORLD RUGBY
“It is the responsibility of a coach to protect their players. He is treated in a strange way. United lost a game in midweek and I saw a headline in a paper about players and pictures of players driving in. Maguire is one of the pictures they used driving in and he didn’t play in the game. That is the sort of unconscious thing going on.”
— ENGLAND COACH GARETH SOUTHGATE ON PRESS & PUNDIT ABUSE OF HARRY MAGUIRE
“World sport’s most petulant little madam.
Unfortunately, Ms Osaka is also an arrogant spoiled brat whose fame and fortune appears to have inflated her ego to gigantic proportions. How else to explain her extraordinary decision to announce she will no longer participate in media press conferences, supposedly to protect her mental health?”
— PIERS MORGAN ATTACKING NAOMI OSAKA
“You had to be twice as good to get half a chance (so) I made practice so hard, hurt so much, because I want to make sure I was ready come game time.
“I was not allowed into the clubhouses. The color of my skin dictated that… As I got older that drove me even more.”
— TIGER WOODS
“We are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles…She’s totally a sociopath. Of course she’s a sociopath…It’s a shame to the nation. You just gave a gift to the Russians.”
— PUNDIT CHARLIE KIRK ON GOAT GYMNAST SIMONE BILES FOLLOWING HER DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM THE TOKYO OLYMPICS CITING HER MENTAL HEALTH