Harbin, China, August 13, 2025: It was back to the classroom for the young athletes at the Asian Figure Skating Youth Camp in Harbin as they were made aware of what a safe sports environment is all about on Wednesday, August 13.
A one-hour Safeguarding workshop was conducted by the OCA’s Gender Equity and Safeguarding Manager, Sabine Fakhoury, and Asian Safeguarding and Sport Network officer Hera Liew for the athletes and coaches from 20 Asian countries and regions at the OCA-ISU-CAIC camp.
With the OCA committed to its initiative of ‘Guarding the Asian Games’, every seminar or development training camp where athletes and coaches come together is not just only about teaching technical sporting skills, but also involves imparting knowledge on four key aspects - Olympic Values, Safeguarding, Prevention of Competition Manipulation and Anti-Doping.
“It was an eye-opener,” said Vietnamese teenager Pham Van Minh, part of an enthusiastic audience who got involved in the heavily interactive-accented safeguarding session.
Fakhoury and Liew presented the measures and practices put in place to protect children, young people, and even adults from harm, abuse - sexual, physical and psychological – and neglect within sport settings.
The key topics delivered were the definition and importance of safe sport; forms of harassment and abuse; an individual’s role and responsibilities in safeguarding sport; and how to report misdemeanours to the OCA and the ISU.
“It was a meaningful session. I gave them a case study and they were very involved and got stuck into it,” Fakhoury said.
Liew handled the young athletes who got into the spirit of it, especially with the former Korean skater handing out small gifts for every correct answer during an interactive Q&A session.
“It is very important to educate athletes, especially young ones on topics like safeguarding. They must know what a safe sporting environment is and the OCA is committed to creating it at all levels,” said Wissam Trkmani, OCA Director of NOC Relations & Development.
