When Women’s Football’s Safeguarding Fails Before It Begins

Not long ago, in a meeting with a national football association, I asked a routine question: can you conduct background checks on coaches?

The answer came without hesitation.

“No. We don’t do that. Only the third rape counts.”

That was the exact phrase. And it wasn’t said as a joke. It was said to clarify that, even if they did run background checks, nothing would show up unless someone had already been convicted of multiple rapes.

That moment has stayed with me—not just for its bluntness, but for what it reveals about the state of safeguarding in some corners of the global game.

This isn’t about one country or one FA. It’s about the structural indifference that exists in places where women’s football is trying to grow but is still governed by systems not built for it—or worse, not interested in building anything safer.

When an FA says it can’t provide a safeguarding check, it’s not a technicality. It’s a declaration: there is no meaningful system in place to protect girls and women from abuse. There is no mechanism to screen coaches or staff before they are placed in positions of power. There is no red flag until the damage has already been done—multiple times.

Imagine being a parent, sending your daughter to train under someone who has never been vetted. Imagine being a player, sensing something is wrong but knowing there is no process in place to listen to you, believe you, or act on your behalf. This is the reality in too many footballing environments.

The phrase “only the third rape counts” is horrifying. But what’s worse is that in some systems, it’s accurate. The first two didn’t leave a legal footprint. The third might. And only then does the system decide to take notice.

Safeguarding isn’t something we add once football becomes professional. It’s the foundation. It’s the promise that we won’t sacrifice safety for ambition—or look the other way because “there’s no budget for that yet.”

If football’s governing bodies can’t protect the most vulnerable, then they shouldn’t be the ones in charge of building the future of the game.

Because if “only the third rape counts,” then we’ve already failed.