FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit for member associations practice questions

Five sample questions from the Study material, with the answers and explanations shown. The quiz bank holds all 135 questions on this document.

These five questions show how the quiz bank tests the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit for member associations. The quiz bank holds all 135 questions on this document, with scoring, timed papers and the exam simulator.

1. Dunmore Athletic, an Irish club, wants Ciarán Holt, a 15-year-old academy player, to play in an extra, intensive invitation tournament a week after the club doctor advised him to rest a stress injury for a fortnight. The academy director argues that the tournament showcases the academy to its sponsors and that the club’s results have to come first. Which of the following statements is correct?

The decision must take Ciarán’s best interests into account as a primary consideration, because Principle 1 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit applies that test to every action, including decisions. (Principle 1, study pack p. 311) Correct
The decision need not take Ciarán’s best interests into account as a primary consideration, because Principle 1 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit applies that test to conduct towards a child, not to decisions.
The decision belongs to Ciarán’s parents alone, because Principle 1 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit places responsibility for a child’s best interests on the family rather than on the club or academy.
The club may enter him once it has weighed its sponsors’ interest against his health, because Principle 1 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit gives a child’s interests the same weight as the organisation’s.

Principle 1 (p. 311) commits everyone in football to act in the best interests of children, and its footnote 2 explains that every action relating to a child has to take the child’s best interests into account as a primary consideration, “action” including all decisions, conduct, training, services and programmes. A is right. B is wrong because selection and training decisions are “actions” within the footnote. C is wrong because the principle binds those acting in football, not only the family. D is wrong because the child’s interests are a primary consideration, not one factor of equal weight with the club’s commercial or sporting interests.

2. Emeka Obinwa-Hart, aged 17, plays in a national association’s youth development programme. He lives on his own, and the law of his country sets the age of majority at 16. At a review of the programme, a club official says that the association’s safeguarding measures no longer apply to Emeka because he is legally an adult. Which of the following statements is correct?

The measures no longer apply to Emeka, because under Principle 2(a) of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit a person under 18 is a child unless the age of majority where he lives is lower.
The measures still apply to Emeka, because under Principle 2(a) of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit a person under 18 is a child regardless of the age of majority where he lives. (Principle 2(a) and Appendix 1, study pack pp. 312 and 338) Correct
The measures apply to Emeka only while he plays in a youth competition, because the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit defines a child by the age category in which he or she is registered.
The measures no longer apply to Emeka, because Appendix 1 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit defines a child as a person under the age of 16 years for the purposes of the toolkit.

Principle 2(a) (p. 312) says that a “child” or “young person” is anyone under 18, and that the toolkit refers to all individuals under 18 as children regardless of the age of majority in the country where the child lives. Appendix 1 (p. 338) likewise defines a child as a person under the age of 18 years. Emeka is 17, so B is right. A is wrong because national majority age is expressly disregarded. C is wrong because the test is age, not the competition category. D misstates the Appendix 1 definition, which uses 18, not 16.

3. A national association is drafting its child safeguarding policy. It runs a disability football programme and an elite regional academy for players aged 13 to 17. A committee member proposes to leave the disability programme out of the policy because a partner charity runs it, and to apply a lighter standard to the academy because professional staff already supervise its players. Which of the following statements is correct?

The disability programme may be left out, because Principle 3 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit applies the toolkit only to children who take part in the association’s own competitions.
The academy may be held to a lighter standard, because the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit focuses safeguarding on grassroots football where children are supervised by volunteers.
Both groups should be covered, and the policy should recognise that disabled children and those on elite pathways can be particularly vulnerable to abuse, as the sample policy in Appendix 2 does. (Principle 3 and Appendix 2, study pack pp. 313 and 342) Correct
Both groups should be covered, but the policy may not single either group out as more vulnerable, because Principle 3 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit requires the same treatment of all children.

Principle 3 (p. 313) applies the toolkit’s principles and practices to all children without discrimination, including on account of disability. The sample policy in Appendix 2 (p. 342) applies to all those under 18, acknowledges that some children can be particularly vulnerable to abuse, “e.g. disabled children, or those on elite pathways”, and accepts responsibility to promote their inclusion, safety and well-being. C is right. A and B are wrong because neither group may be excluded or given a lesser standard. D is wrong because recognising particular vulnerability is exactly what the sample policy does; non-discrimination does not forbid it.

4. A national association hosts an international under-15 tournament. On the second evening, host staff find that Radomir Vesko, head of a visiting delegation, has let his players go into the city unaccompanied until late. Told of the host association’s safeguarding measures, he replies that this is normal practice in his own country and that his home rules, not the host’s, govern how he looks after his players. Which of the following statements is correct?

His home country’s practice governs, because Principle 4 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit ties each person’s safeguarding duty to the standards of the country he or she comes from.
He may follow his home practice because his own association has not yet adopted safeguarding measures, as Principle 4 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit applies only once a member association has adopted a policy.
His duty depends on the role he holds, because Principle 4 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit places the duty to safeguard children on coaches and safeguarding officers rather than on heads of delegation.
He has a duty to safeguard the children in his care without exception, because Principle 4 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit applies regardless of the country he is from. (Principle 4, study pack p. 314) Correct

Principle 4 (p. 314) states that safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of the country we are from or the role we hold in football, so that when children are in our care we have a duty to safeguard them without exception. D is right. A reverses the principle: the country a person comes from does not limit the duty. B is wrong because the duty applies without exception and does not wait for an association to adopt a policy. C is wrong because the duty applies regardless of the role a person holds in football, so a head of delegation is bound as much as a coach or safeguarding officer.

5. At a national association, concerns about the treatment of young players are handled informally. Each regional officer deals with them in his or her own way, often with a quiet word to the coach concerned, and no one in the association has a defined safeguarding role. The general secretary says the approach works because most concerns are eventually resolved. Which of the following statements is correct?

The association falls short of Principle 5 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit, which requires roles to be defined and concerns to be dealt with immediately under stated procedures. (Principle 5, study pack p. 315) Correct
The association does not fall short of Principle 5 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit, which requires concerns to be resolved eventually but leaves roles and procedures to each officer.
The association falls short of Principle 5 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit only if a concern later proves to be abuse, because the principle applies to proven abuse rather than to concerns.
The association should refer each concern to FIFA, because Principle 5 of the FIFA Guardians child safeguarding toolkit makes FIFA responsible for concerns that a member association has not resolved.

Principle 5 (p. 315) provides that specific roles and responsibilities must be defined within member associations and that all concerns will be reported and dealt with immediately in accordance with stated procedures, in line with national legislation, with the best interests of the child as the primary concern. An association with no defined roles, where each officer improvises, falls short, so A is right. B is wrong because concerns must be dealt with immediately under stated procedures, not eventually and at each officer’s discretion. C is wrong because the principle covers all concerns. D is wrong because nothing in Principle 5 shifts concerns to FIFA.

Answers are taken from the official FIFA study materials. Where a question names an article, you can check it against FIFA's own text: the study materials page links every document.