MÚSZ President Sándor Wladár told a press event that by introducing the scheme, the association would “make up for its past shortcomings” in the area of child protection.

The alert system being implemented will be accessible by anyone, he said. Although “a lot has changed” in coach-athlete-parent relationships since his days of competing, the body in charge of investigating reports of abuse will be “exhaustive” in every case.

Those found guilty of child abuse “will face extremely severe penalties”, he said. MÚSZ will put up posters about the details of its programme in every swimming pool in Hungary. Details are also available on the association’s website.

Emese Danks, the programme’s manager, said the aim of the scheme was to prevent abuse, whether physical or psychological.

A part of the scheme has been taken over from a similar code of conduct in the UK and adopted to fit the circumstances in Hungary, she said.