COC says it’s ‘committed to safety’ after CBC report on convicted coaches

The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees said Sunday that they stand for “sport free of harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind,” after a CBC investigation reported that more than 200 coaches involved in amateur sports in Canada have been convicted of sexual offences over the last two decades.

The CBC investigation, published Sunday as the first of a three-part series, reported the number to be “at least 222 coaches” convicted from 1998-2018.

The report also said 34 other cases of accused coaches are currently before the courts.

“We are committed to the health and safety of all who play or work for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams and to doing our part to ensure safe sport is the standard,” the COC said in a statement released Sunday night.

The COC will be in Red Deer, Alta., next weekend for the 2019 Canada Winter Games and says it will meet with federal Sports Minister Kirsty Duncan there.

“We look forward to meeting with the Minister of Sport and our partners in the sport system to advance this important conversation and to take action to better safeguard those in sport today and into the future,” the statement said.

The release added that those talks will focus on addressing harassment, abuse and discrimination, as well as “the areas of awareness, prevention, reporting, management, and monitoring.”