A British Judo report in 2021 concluded that that coach Simon Moss "abused his position of trust over [the athlete] by having a sexual relationship with her whilst he was her coach".

Mhairi Maclennan, co-founder of the Kyniska Advocacy group which supports women in sport, has criticised the appointment by British Judo.

"We know that there is a troubling lack of trust from sports communities in their National governing bodies (NGBs) due to a legacy of inaction and a lack of transparency around welfare, safeguarding and athlete wellbeing," a Kyniska statement to insidethegames said.

"This case with British Judo looks like yet another example of NGBs protecting their own reputation over and above building trust with their members, and therefore not prioritising athlete wellbeing and safety,

"British Judo has been defensive about their handling of this case from the outset, demonstrating that their priority is the public perception of the sport, rather than protecting the individuals and members within their organisation. This individual case is a symptom of a wider cultural apathy towards tackling the root causes of gender-based violence in sport,"

The British Judo investigation had revealed that Moss "started using a different phone" in conversations with the athlete "telling her that he did not want others to know when he was online".

Moss had been appointed as England Talent Development Coach in 2019.

Moss is understood to have been suspended with full pay for nine months and given a formal warning after the investigation,

It is believed that the sanctions were at the lower end of the scale because Moss was unaware of the athlete's "vulnerabilities".

In July 2022, British Judo announced that "Simon Moss will support the Paris Olympic programme".

Performance director Nigel Donohue explained the reasoning behind the appointment.

"Investing in Home Nation Programme Coaches and connecting with our club coaches within the pathway, ensures that we can be greater aligned and able to utilise the expertise across the UK in developing the next generation of fighters," Donohue said in a statement.

The athlete involved is believed to be from the West Midlands in England.

She has not been named but also condemned the decision to allow Moss to work with the group,

"It has basically completely belittled anything that I have said to British Judo, about him, they had not even listened to anything I had to say completely disregarded it,It was almost like he had been rewarded for his bad behaviour," the athlete told ITV Central Television.

The athlete was also a women’s coach before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Knowing how I’ve been treated by British Judo and seeing from my own experiences how poor their safeguarding practices are I cannot encourage girls to come and join the sport that I love."

British Judo this week issued a statement.

“British Judo is unable to discuss the details of individual cases, which must remain confidential," British Judo said. 

"However, we take all complaints extremely seriously and we are satisfied that a thorough investigation was carried out and appropriate action was taken as a result.

"We are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all of our members, athletes, coaches and staff. 

"We have comprehensive safeguarding procedures in place, all our coaches receive ongoing training and education and we work with respected third-party organisations to ensure we follow best practice that prioritises athlete welfare at all times.

"At the conclusion of our disciplinary processes, the matter was referred to the UK Sport Eligibility Panel, in accordance with the UK Sport Eligibility Policy."

The British Judo statement also defended its safeguarding practices.

"While we are unable to comment on employment matters within national governing bodies, this case was considered by our Eligibility Panel," a UK Sport spokesperson told insidethegames.

"The panel is responsible for applying our Eligibility Policy, which sets out the criteria athletes and athlete support personnel must meet to be eligible to receive public funding and/or publicly funded benefits,

“We believe it is essential that high-performance sport environments are safe and positive, allowing athletes to develop and fulfil their lifetime ambitions. 

"This is central to our ambition to keep winning and win well, and we remain committed to working with the high-performance sporting community to uphold the highest standards of ethics, integrity and athlete welfare.

"We support all high-performance programmes we invest in to create cultures that are ethical, healthy and balanced and offer tools including regular culture feedback surveys to support this work.

"If any athlete or member of staff within Olympic or Paralympic sport has a concern, we’d urge them to raise this within their sport, or to speak confidentially with third party organisations including the British Elite Athletes Association or Sport Integrity, the confidential reporting and independent investigation service."