The IAAF Council has approved a "position statement" outlining its policy on abuse and harassment following a survey of athletes was conducted at the 2018 U20 World Championships in Tampere ©IAAF

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has approved a "position statement" on tackling abuse and harassment after a survey was carried out at the World U20 Championships in Tampere in Finland earlier this month.

The IAAF Council admitted the survey and subsequent statement was put together "in light of revelations about abuse and harassment in communities around the world" in recent years.

"The first thing we need to do is establish how big an issue this is within the sport and the preliminary findings suggest that the incidence is in line with the wider community," the medical manager of the IAAF’s health and science department Paolo Emilio Adami, said.

"It would be neglecting the reality if we concluded that these events are not happening in sport because an individual’s behaviour tends to be consistent across all parts of their life."

The most well documented case of abuse in global sport arose in gymnastics where former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been found guilty of abusing young girls under a veil of medical treatment.

More than 250 current and former gymnasts have so far accused him of sexual abuse.

Nassar has been jailed for up to 175 years. 

USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar has been jailed for up to 175 years after abusing young athletes ©Getty Images
USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar has been jailed for up to 175 years after abusing young athletes ©Getty Images

More than 500 athletes took part in the IAAF survey in Tampere, which looked to determine to what extent abuse and harassment is an issue within athletics, with a view to creating safeguarding policies.

The position statement agreed by the IAAF Council, is intended to be a "guide", for Area Associations, Member Federations, athletes, staff, sponsors, partners and meeting organisers alike.

It provides definitions of unacceptable behaviour, suggests appropriate responses and outlines the responsibilities of everyone involved in tackling the issue.

Adami, who ran the survey, claimed he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the athletes that took part.

"Some of the questions were very direct and could have made them uncomfortable so we didn’t know how they would react but we were very impressed with the openness of the athletes," he said.

"We found they were very keen to contribute, so perhaps we were too conservative in our approach."

The results of the survey are not currently public, but are due to be presented to the IAAF Council at its next meeting in December.