Summary of Conclusions & Recommendations on Wrestling in Britain
- We are aware of academic projects and studies to assess various elements of wrestling but data about the industry remains sparse and we recommend this as an area of investigation for academics, statisticians and the industry itself.
- The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame for Scotland is an excellent initiative; one we recommend the Scottish Government should officially recognise and support. We hope that with support from across Great Britain this might be expanded further, preserving and appropriately memorialising great British wrestling talents and will engage the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about this.
- Those facing discrimination need not suffer alone. There are expert groups that can help. The LGBT+ anti-violence organisation GALOP drew our attention to its Hate Crime Quality Standard which includes some useful tools, and the organisation maintains some specific resources on tackling biphobia and transphobia which we would recommend to those working within the wrestling industry. So too, resources for learning about and tackling anti-Muslim anti-Jewish, anti-Black racism and other forms of abuse are easily discoverable online. We hope wrestling promotions and others will maintain and promote details of such facilities, including the excellent wrestling-safely resource.
- In light of the difficulties in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the danger posed to the industry and the lack of available support, we recommend a special COVID recovery fund(s) be established, in line with our other recommendations in this report, to be overseen by relevant Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
- In summary, the position is not simple but resolving this question of sport, theatre or art is imperative if the industry in Britain is to advance. We will come to discussion about a governing body, but our considered view is that certainty is required. We therefore strongly recommend that wrestling training schools be considered as ‘sporting’ and shows, promotions and associated activity be considered ‘theatrical’ or ‘artistic’ or ‘performative’. This is our recommendation to Government for future guidance, legislation and regulation. We recommend the relevant Minister write to the Arts Council and Sport England accordingly and ask that Ministers in devolved administrations do the same with their respective bodies.
- The perceived gender gap is something that requires proper analysis and investigation and we would strongly recommend that scholarly work, or research by a respected NGO would be helpful in this regard, to inform debate and make recommendations for change. In the meantime, we would recommend that promotions and other wrestling organisations consider the gender imbalance in the management and leadership of their promotions and seek to redress any that exists
- In a recent and well publicised case, the ride hailing app Uber was considered to have had responsibilities to drivers whose ‘subordination and dependency’ the company commanded. This raises very obvious and pressing questions for wrestlers across the UK with major companies. We will be seeking to engage with government to get clarity on this issue and we recommend that wrestlers press their union to seek legal advice as to the position of UK talent seeking contracts with major companies.
- Infrastructure to support talent working overseas would be welcome and we recommend that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department for International Trade introduce training for relevant cultural and trade attaches about wrestling, both to help promote the UK overseas but also to give talent a point of contact for future visits, and that the Home Office help to ensure the immigration infrastructure can more readily accommodate visiting talent.
- Our firm recommendation, given the extent of the issues that need addressing is that a new association be established for the promotion, support and regulation of wrestling promotions.
- At present, wrestling (and boxing) rings do not appear to be covered by a United Kingdom designated standard, and so do not need to be UKCA or otherwise marked to be placed in the market of Great Britain. However, some gymnastic equipment does meet the criteria for General Product Safety. We recommend that wrestling rings be specifically recognised by Government as requiring a designated standard and adopted by the British Standards Institution.
- We further recommend that a signed PAR Q or similar be required by UK wrestling promotions and be tied to conditions of insurance.
- There are a number of resources which exist and which we recommend should be made available to talent, including for example the Centre for Countering Digital Hate’s ‘Don’t Feed the Trolls’ report. There are sessions freely available online concerning mindfulness but so too, promotions instituting social media policies would be a helpful step forward, and possibly relieve the mental toll both they and talent undergo on social media platforms. Examples of such policies and related considerations are available online
- As for social media, there is cross-party consensus that more must be done, and the Online Safety Bill is due to be brought forward in the coming months. Members of the APPG will work to ensure these and other matters are voiced as part of the move towards regulating sites which host user-generated content and will encourage everyone who posts about wrestling to consider the impact this could have when engaging in toxic discourse.
- We recommend therefore that any promotion operating in the UK immediately adopts the following measures:
i) All promoters, trainers and referees be physical and mental health first-aid qualified and trained in concussion awareness and protocols.
ii) Any pre-show address must make clear who trained first aiders are, what the signal for injury is and the process for reacting to it, including the authority to stop a match, and where the local hospital is. Incident report books should be maintained as standard.
iii) Talent and promoters should familiarise themselves with and adopt protocols where free resources are available including the aforementioned Riptide open resource and the rugby or Football Association concussion measures, for example.
iv) Rings should be safe to use, only set up by qualified individuals, checked regularly and renewed after a set period.
v) All shows should be risk-assessed.
vi) A fully stocked first-aid kit should be maintained.
vii) Medical professionals should be in attendance at any show.
Any promotion without such measures in place should be, in our view, considered disreputable and to be failing its fans, talent and the industry as a whole. However, there are further measures that can be implemented with haste that can make a significant difference in enhancing health and safety, these include:
i) Hiring individuals with expert knowledge of Health and Safety Protocols.
ii) Provision of or access to counsellors.
iii) Introduction of waivers or disclaimers.
Finally, there are measures that might be more difficult to implement but would exemplify excellent practice, including:
i) Offering vaccinations to talent for Hep B and other Hepatitis.
ii) Requiring or providing facilities for regular blood testing for talent. - We further recommend that changes to insurance arrangements be sought whereby liability should transfer to a promotion or promoter should it be proven they prevented medical professionals from intervening appropriately on safety matters, if ring equipment was not fit for purpose or to performers if they do not declare a serious injury. We believe insurance companies should review their schedules to include further requirements on promotions or promoters in respect of health and safety in general. However, we also recommend that specialised insurance should be more readily available to UK wrestling talent and will be engaging the insurance industry about both aspects of this recommendation.
- For any sized promotion, having even limited safety measures in place should be part of the key requirement for running an event, either through requirements to use council property, the TENs licence or governing body and in the absence of the latter, we recommend that the Home Office brings forward proposals to broaden TENs licence guidance to include health and safety and other minimum standards protocols for wrestling suppliers. We recognise that the legislation is different in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but we request that both devolved administrations assess whether their current licencing rules adequately cover wrestling promotions.
- The Health and Safety Executive has issued guidance for amateur sports clubs299 and we believe should be sufficiently concerned to release regulations for wrestling schools and promotions. We recognise that the governance is different in Northern Ireland, but we request that the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland consider this recommendation also.
- Having a practical guide to how to engage with survivors of abuse or victims of sexual misconduct, especially for first responders, would be a useful tool for the wrestling industry. We hope to work with stakeholders in academia and elsewhere to see whether a wrestling-specific guide might be developed.
- We recommend that wrestling organisations, including promotions, and in particular training schools provide regular platforms for survivors of abuse to talk to their experiences and to educate others that might be experiencing abuse about the impact of Speaking Out.
- Whether protected or not, it is our view that too few wrestlers know their employment status and rights in respect of wrestling. To that end, we recommend the development of a legal guide for wrestlers, and will be consulting with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau on its development.
- We call on promotions, training schools, and other wrestling institutions to commit to the activities outlined in the APPG pledge and call on fans to consider your custom of any promotions or schools unwilling to follow what we consider minimum standards for the industry. We are not naïve, shows will go ahead without these measures in place, but they can at present, only be enforced by patronage until any form of oversight is in place. This then is our contribution to the Speaking Out Movement, a tool for fans and talent to use to demand better. Having heard from a wide range of sources what must change, we are seeking to create a difference.
- Anyone accused of misconduct has a right to personal safety. To this end, they should obviously report to the police any illegal conduct. However, we also recommend that any promotions applying a social media policy – and as per our other recommendations we believe all promotions should maintain one – should ensure that it is followed in respect of such cases when they arise and that there are consequences for contravening it.
- We recommend that promotions introduce mutually agreed formal classification for shows: Adult, Family, Custom and that appropriate quality controls be introduced for family shows including in relation to merchandising. We further recommend that any show should include audience announcements to remind fans about the performers and their role as actor-athletes, and to consider this if and when afforded the opportunity to meet them, and recommend that all merchandise tables should be appropriately staffed
- We recommend that the Information Commissioner’s Office prepare a guide for wrestling promotions and schools outlining their responsibilities under the GDPR regulations.
- We recommend that the law be amended to make sports coaches a position of trust for the purposes of child sexual offences, and that wrestling coaches be explicitly recognised as being in such positions of trust. There are, in the interim, steps that training schools can take to improve their offering. For example, UK Coaching provides services from networking through to advocacy and legal support. The organisation has numerous resources including a Code of Practice for Sports Coaches. There are also coaching courses, codes of conduct, safeguarding and other materials available through British Wrestling. We are well aware that British Wrestling’s remit is different to that of the Professional Wrestling industry but there are obvious overlaps particularly in relation to coaching safeguards and we recommend that schools seek to engage both organisations to improve their policies and procedures where applicable. Schools might also consider the gender balance in respect of positions of training authority, something we were told was badly skewed towards men. We recommend that trainer-trainee relationships with those under-18 on social media be expressly prohibited by schools with immediate effect, that appropriate age segmentation be instituted for all training and continuous professional development be offered to coaches.
- Again, should we be able to unlock the status of training schools, this opens up options for discussions with Sport England (Scotland, Wales) and others about housing a DBS clearance system, and we recommend that this be an urgent priority once wrestling’s status has been agreed. In the interim, we recommend schools immediately adopt NSPCC safeguards as standard.302 A shared resource bank for schools would be a smart and easy measure to establish at speed, from pedagogy to professionalism and the APPG commits to holding a school’s summit at which we hope such a measure will be implemented. An inspection regime and industry-wide pro-card for graduates would also be advisable, and is something we would seek to discuss at the summit.
- We consider that it would be beneficial to the wrestling industry in the UK to establish two trade bodies, one for independent promotions and a second for touring promotions.