ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY
BELLEVUE FOOTBALL CLUB is Wales’ first and award winning, league registered, multi-ethnic and inclusion specific football club. Due to this mission statement, we operate several zero tolerance policies to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of our club. The guidance below is adapted from Welsh Government guidelines and will be enforced by immediate removal from the club with no grounds for appeal.
RESPECT
Everyone involved in the running of this club works as a volunteer. Both coaches and administrators must be respected at all times. Any verbal, online or physical abuse aimed at our volunteers is absolutely unacceptable and will lead to immediate dismissal from the club.
HATE CRIME
A hate crime is defined as 'Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.' A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender. Evidence of the hate element is not a requirement. You do not need to personally perceive the incident to be hate related.
DISCRIMINATION
Under the Equality Act 2010, it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation. These are called protected characteristics.
BULLYING AND HARASSMENT
There is no legal definition of bullying in Wales or indeed Great Britain. Therefore the definition used in this guidance builds upon widely used principles established in the United Kingdom since 1993. For the purposes of this guidance, bullying is defined as: "Behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, which intentionally hurts others either physically or emotionally." Bullying is a form of unacceptable behaviour, but not all unacceptable behaviour is bullying. Bullying usually has three key elements, and can take place face-to-face or online.
• It is intentional or deliberate hurtful behaviour.
• It is repeated behaviour that usually happens over a period of time.
• The person or people being bullied feel powerless to defend themselves.
Bullying can take many forms, including:
• being called nasty names, teased, made fun of, threatened or put down
• being hit, kicked, punched, tripped up or knocked over
• having belongings stolen or deliberately damaged
• having rumours or gossip spread about you or people talking about you behind your back
• being left out, excluded or isolated
• being forced to do something you don’t want to do or that you know is wrong.
Online bullying is bullying behaviour that is displayed through technology such as mobile/smart phones or the internet. This could include:
• hurtful, embarrassing or threatening material posted online (e.g. on social media)
• nasty messages sent as text messages, e-mails or via other websites or apps
• being excluded from an online game or chat forum
• fake profiles on a social network to make fun of others
• misuse of intimate explicit images of the person targeted (the target).
Prejudice-related bullying is when the bullying is focused on what is different about a person’s identity. It can be targeted at one person or a whole group of people because they are thought to be different, whether this is true or not. This is known as prejudice. Prejudice-related bullying involves aspects of a person’s identity such as:
• race
• religion or beliefs
• culture or family background
• disability
• gender identity – the way someone looks or acts
• sexual orientation – whether someone is heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual (who someone is attracted to)
• sex – because of someone’s gender (often in a form of harassment).
-- WHERE A BREACH OF THIS CODE IS REPORTED AND THERE IS EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT IT, THE CLUB WILL TAKE IMMEDIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION. THE OFFICERS INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE CAN IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON ANY INDIVIDUAL, UP TO AND INCLUDING THE IMMEDIATE DEREGISTERING OF A PLAYER WITH NO GROUNDS FOR APPEAL. --