Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that excessive engagement in sports activities, coupled with the pressures associated with athletic performance, has led families to encourage their children to participate in sports. Consequently, the protection of minors in the sports sector has assumed significant importance within both the legal and social frameworks, particularly given that children constitute one of the categories most susceptible to being positively or negatively affected by the circumstances and environment surrounding them. Sport, as an educational, cultural, and developmental activity, provides a fertile environment for shaping the personality of minors and fostering fundamental values among them. However, in the absence of adequate legal regulation, administrative oversight, and judicial supervision, the sporting environment may become a setting for the exploitation of children and expose them to violence, neglect, as well as physical and psychological risks. It should be noted that the Moroccan legislative framework comprises a range of legal provisions aimed at protecting children within the sporting environment, either directly or indirectly. In this regard, Law No. 30.09 on Physical Education and Sports, together with its implementing Decree No. 2.10.628, constitutes a fundamental legal framework governing the practice of various forms of sporting activities. Accordingly, the effective protection of minors in the sports sector requires not only the existence of an appropriate legislative framework, but also the effective implementation of mechanisms for prevention, supervision, accountability, and judicial protection, in a manner that ensures the exercise of sports activities in conditions that safeguard the physical and psychological integrity and the fundamental rights of children.

Keywords

Protection of Minors; Sport; Law No. 30.09; Child Exploitation; Administrative and Judicial Oversight; Moroccan Legislation.