British Gymnastics changes independent complaints process after criticism from abuse victims
British Gymnastics has announced the replacement of the independent complaints process that was introduced after a wave of reports about abuse and inappropriate conduct in British gymnastics. According to a BBC report published in May 2026, several gymnasts and parents described the process known as the Independent Complaints Process, or ICP, as flawed and retraumatising. The governing body of British gymnastics confirmed that it will replace it with a revised process which, according to its announcement, should still be independent, but also more trauma-informed, focused on timely case resolution, and based on fairness and proportionality.
This is a continuation of one of the most important institutional crises in British sport in recent years. The ICP was launched in 2020 after male and female gymnasts and parents began publicly making allegations of physical and emotional abuse, humiliation, forced training despite injuries, a problematic approach to body weight, and an inadequate response by the competent bodies to earlier reports. British Gymnastics then engaged the organisation Sport Resolutions to help manage the process for complaints submitted through the British Athletes Commission and the NSPCC helpline.
One of the people who spoke to the BBC, presented under the pseudonym Laura, said that the ICP had failed her and many other gymnasts. According to her, the compensation obtained in a civil case confirmed to her that wrongdoing had occurred, but what mattered most to her was that coaches accept responsibility and acknowledge that their words and actions were the reason she became ill. Such a statement has reopened the question of whether a disciplinary or complaints system in sport can meet the needs of people reporting abuse if it focuses only on formal procedure and not also on victims’ experiences.
Process introduced after reports from 2020
According to Sport Resolutions’ protocol from November 2020, the Independent Complaints Process was designed to allow consideration of certain individual complaints about alleged abuse and inappropriate conduct in gymnastics. The document states that in 2020 a large number of gymnasts and parents made allegations of abuse or mistreatment, and that serious concerns arose about whether British Gymnastics had previously handled complaints appropriately. The protocol provided for individual cases to be investigated before an independent person to whom British Gymnastics’ powers had been delegated.
In its explanation of the process, British Gymnastics stated that the ICP related to existing individual complaints submitted to the British Athletes Commission between 6 July and 9 October 2020. In the same statement, the organisation said that Sport Resolutions had been engaged to help appoint an independent person and to work with people who had reported their concerns through the BAC/NSPCC line. Sport Resolutions appointed Christopher Quinlan QC, a lawyer with experience in criminal, regulatory and sports law, as head of the process.
In its initial concept, the ICP was meant to be separate from the wider independent investigation known as the Whyte Review. While the Whyte Review examined the culture, patterns of behaviour and institutional failures in British gymnastics, the ICP was intended to serve the resolution of individual complaints. In this way, the system was set up on two levels: one was meant to establish the general context and recommend reforms, while the other dealt with specific reports against coaches or other individual circumstances.
But it is precisely at that second level that the dispute is now being reopened. Critics of the process argue that formal independence alone is not enough if the process is slow, difficult to follow, emotionally exhausting, or if people reporting abuse do not feel that the system understands them. According to the BBC report, some gymnasts and parents believe that the process did not meet the expectations presented to them when it was established.
Whyte Review found serious systemic problems
The Whyte Review, an independent report jointly commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England, was published on 16 June 2022. According to Sport England’s publication, the investigation was led by Anne Whyte QC and involved gymnasts, parents, guardians, coaches, employees and former employees of British Gymnastics, as well as other individuals and organisations that wished to provide information. The report examined allegations of abuse in gymnastics, but it was not intended as a mechanism for deciding individual complaints.
In a joint statement after the report was published, the then leaders of UK Sport and Sport England said that they accepted and supported all the recommendations of the Whyte Review. In the statement, gymnasts’ experiences were described as harrowing, and British Gymnastics was explicitly identified as an organisation that had failed in its duty of care towards athletes and participants. UK Sport and Sport England then said that the continuation of funding for British Gymnastics would depend on the implementation of significant changes in line with the deadlines set out in the recommendations.
The report had significance beyond gymnastics itself. It showed that complaints in sport cannot be viewed only as isolated incidents between an individual coach and athlete, but also as a consequence of a culture in which medals, selection pressure and coaches’ authority were often more important than the welfare of young athletes. In such an environment, children and young people may find it difficult to recognise that certain behaviour is unacceptable, and even harder to report it if they believe that a report could jeopardise their sporting career.
Sport England and UK Sport published a policy response to the lessons from the Whyte Review in January 2023. According to Sport England, that response contained 19 commitments in the areas of support for coaches and the workforce, support for athletes in the high-performance system, good governance, dispute resolution and the creation of safer sporting environments. In July 2025, those institutions also published an update on progress in implementing those commitments.
Criticism focuses on trust, speed and treatment of victims
The latest criticism of the ICP does not relate only to technical details of the procedure. It primarily concerns trust in the system and the way institutions treat people who say they have suffered abuse. When former female and male athletes are asked to recount traumatic experiences again, every step of the process can have serious consequences for their mental health. For that reason, contemporary discussions about safety in sport increasingly emphasise the need for trauma-informed procedures.
The concept of a trauma-informed process in this context means that the system must recognise that complainants may be particularly vulnerable, that their testimonies must not be unnecessarily repeated, that communication must be clear, and that timelines must not create the impression of endless waiting. Such an approach does not mean abandoning procedural fairness towards the people against whom complaints have been submitted. On the contrary, the purpose is to establish a process that is at the same time fair to everyone involved and sufficiently sensitive to the consequences that abuse can leave behind.
According to the available information, British Gymnastics is now announcing a replacement model that should be independent, trauma-informed, fair, proportionate and focused on timely resolution. That wording shows that the organisation has accepted at least part of the criticism relating to the process to date. However, it is still not entirely clear what the new model will look like in practice, who will implement it, whether it will apply to unresolved cases, and how it will be ensured that people who have already gone through the ICP are not exposed to additional stress again.
The question of accountability for coaches and other responsible persons is especially sensitive. The statement by the person presented as Laura shows that financial compensation in a civil case does not necessarily have to be enough for a victim to gain a sense of justice. In many cases, acknowledgement of harm, acceptance of responsibility and a clear message that behaviours which led to damage to athletes’ health cannot be considered a normal part of the training process are equally important.
British Gymnastics has already changed disciplinary rules
Part of the reforms that British Gymnastics implemented after the Whyte Review relates to the general disciplinary framework. The current complaints and disciplinary rules from June 2025 state that the British Gymnastics Welfare and Safe Sport Team is the first point of contact for complaints. The document describes how complaints are submitted, assessed and investigated, how the possibility of formal disciplinary proceedings is considered, who is authorised to take disciplinary measures, and which sanctions may be imposed if a breach of the rules is established.
The same document states that, as a rule, it is necessary to identify the complainant so that the person against whom the complaint has been submitted has a clear understanding of the allegations and so that procedural fairness can be ensured. However, British Gymnastics recognises that in certain circumstances there may be reasons for confidentiality or anonymity, although this is not always possible if the complainant’s identity is obvious from the content of the complaint itself. Such provisions show how difficult it is to balance the protection of people reporting abuse with the rights of people against whom proceedings are being conducted.
The rules also provide for the possibility of referring cases to the Sport Integrity Service. According to the British Gymnastics document, this may include an independent investigation or disciplinary proceedings in cases of alleged misconduct involving athletes, people who provide them with professional support, or office-holders in British Gymnastics. This emphasises an effort to move some of the most sensitive issues away from the federation’s internal structures, although public trust still depends on how such mechanisms are implemented in real cases.
The announcement of the replacement of the ICP therefore comes at a time when the institutional framework has already changed, but the debate about its effectiveness has not ended. For victims and their families, the key question is not only whether new rules exist, but whether they bring real change in the way reports are heard, investigated and concluded. This is precisely the area in which British Gymnastics now has to prove that reform language is matched by concrete practice.
Wider significance for the safety of children and young people in sport
The case of British gymnastics is important for other sports as well because it shows how problems of culture, power and accountability can develop for years in systems that appear successful from the outside. Gymnastics is a particularly sensitive area because the competitive pathway often begins at a very young age, and the relationship between coaches, children, parents and sports organisations can be highly hierarchical. In such circumstances, the boundary between demanding training and harmful conduct must be clearly defined and constantly monitored.
The Whyte Review and subsequent criticism of the ICP showed that institutions must develop mechanisms that do not depend only on the courage of individuals to speak publicly. A safety system in sport must enable early recognition of risks, effective reporting, independent investigation, protection from retaliation and clear consequences for those who break the rules. If people reporting abuse feel lost in the process or exposed to additional harm, trust in the entire system quickly collapses.
That is why the announced replacement of the ICP will be an important test for British Gymnastics. The organisation will have to show that it is ready to learn not only from the findings of the Whyte Review, but also from the experiences of people who have gone through its complaints mechanisms. In practice, the success of the new model will be measured by whether complainants receive clear information, whether procedures are completed within a reasonable time, whether decisions are reasoned, and whether accountability is established in a way that is credible to athletes, parents, coaches and the public.
For people who have already gone through earlier procedures, the announcement of reform will not in itself erase the feeling of injustice. It may nevertheless mark the beginning of a new approach if British Gymnastics clearly explains what was insufficient in the old system, how existing cases will be resolved, and how the recurrence of the same problems will be prevented in the future. After years of public testimonies, independent reports and civil proceedings, the central question remains the same: can gymnastics build a system in which sporting success is no longer achieved at the expense of the health, dignity and safety of children and young people.
Sources:
- BBC / Yahoo Sports – report on the announcement of the replacement of the ICP and criticism from gymnasts and parents (link)
- Sport England – page about the Whyte Review, the independent report on abuse in gymnastics (link)
- UK Sport – joint publication by UK Sport and Sport England after the publication of the Whyte Review (link)
- British Gymnastics – explanation of the Independent Complaints Process and the role of Sport Resolutions (link)
- Sport Resolutions – Independent Complaints Process protocol from November 2020 (link)
- British Gymnastics – Complaints and Disciplinary Policy and Procedures, version from June 2025 (link)