Safeguarding

We control who can send a direct message. The rules are enforced in code, not just in policy:

• Scouts cannot cold-message players or parents. A scout must first send a match invitation. Only once the player (or parent, for minors) has explicitly accepted can a conversation open.
• Coaches can only message players at their own club.
• Players can only message teammates — other players at the same club.
• No group chats or public DMs. Every message is 1:1 and auditable.

All scout and coach roles are manually verified by our team before elevated permissions are granted.

When a profile is submitted for a minor — under 16 in the UK, under 18 in South Africa — we require a parent or guardian email address and an explicit consent confirmation before publication. The timestamp is logged against the profile.

Parents can withdraw consent, request a data export, or delete the profile at any time from the Privacy & Data settings page, or by emailing us.

For under-18s specifically, we follow the UK Information Commissioner's Age Appropriate Design Code (Children's Code) — default-private profile settings where applicable, no targeted advertising, and data minimisation by default.

Every player profile, endorsement, and match page has a Report button. Reports go straight to our moderation queue — we triage all reports involving minors within 24 hours.

You can report:

• Impersonation — someone claiming to be a player or coach they are not
• Inappropriate content — photos, text, or links not suitable for a youth platform
• Safety concern — behaviour that worries you about a child's welfare
• Underage safety — unsafe contact or suspected grooming
• Spam, harassment, false statistics — anything else that shouldn't be on the platform

Reports are anonymous to the reported user. You don't need to have the perpetrator's contact details — just the page or profile URL.

Every report lands in an admin queue with four states:

• Open — triaged by priority (safety concerns first)
• In review — an admin is investigating
• Resolved — action taken (content removed, account suspended, or other) with resolution notes stored in our audit log
• Dismissed — no violation found, with a reason recorded

Admin actions are written to an audit log with the actor, timestamp, and metadata — so every decision can be reviewed later if needed.

We cooperate fully with UK and South African law enforcement if an investigation requires evidence. Where a child is at immediate risk we will report to the relevant authority before we contact the reported user.

• No targeted advertising on any profile — ever
• No direct messaging between adults and unrelated minors without the contact path described above
• No sharing of player data with third parties for marketing
• Age-group-appropriate content standards in profile bios and highlights
• Regular review of moderation practices and verification criteria