In sports clubs and training facilities, teams of people across different roles and hierarchies come together to work towards specific outcomes. Like any business, their work is linked to financial rewards for individuals, clubs and whole sporting sectors. 

And again, like other organisations, that all means huge amounts of pressure on relationships and the potential for conflict that gets in the way of performance and commitment.

The difference is in the level of individual dedication needed. For people aiming to reach or keep their place in elite sport, this is their life. 

Work is an all-consuming obsession, mentally and physically, in a field where there are the smallest of margins between life-changing success and desperate disappointment.

The sports workplace has to run smoothly. Formula One motor racing leaders know that constant high performance isn’t just about the engineering hardware, it happens as a result of how people work with each other, their use of soft skills and emotional intelligence. 

So there’s a "no blame" philosophy, where egos need to be put to one side, where it’s accepted there has to be a sense of "psychological safety": staff are encouraged to feel safe when talking about performance, that they can be wholly honest without statements being assumed to be a personal challenge or threat.

Far more often in sports, the mechanics are all based on human relationships and those between coach and athlete in particular. Good communications, understanding and rapport. And this is where things can go wrong. 

Even now, when sports are such big business, there aren’t always the channels available for people to speak up, to talk openly about concerns and clashes, without the ever-present threat of consequences.

UK sports involves relationship issues of all shapes and sizes. Not just the cases where coaches are accused of bullying (always a problem anyway: where should the line be drawn between "bullying" and being driven to deliver success?)

There are also instances of poor treatment by athletes of other athletes in the same set-up, imposing their own training choices and place in the hierarchy - as well as athletes who "bully" coaches.

My own experience of working on sports conflict has shown how often athletes and coaches just need a chance to talk informally about relationship issues. Independent investigations can help at the informal as well as at the formal stage. 

People sometimes don’t know where to start, they don’t want to go down a road that ruins everything they’ve been working towards. They can have their voice heard without fear of retribution, given advice on informal methods for moving forward without triggering formal action or any suggestion of a "cover-up."

Sports bodies are making more efforts to recognise the issues and needs but the heart of the problem can be a shortage of people management skills. Coaches may have come from sports backgrounds and not be experienced at handling difficult conversations. 

Athletes are often young and without any wider experience of how they can go about speaking up. As a result there is just fear of what happens, what talking about problems means for their prospects.

Sports are working to change the culture: making speaking up about grievances something "normal", do-able without situations having to reach a stage where there is legal intervention, full investigations and media scandal.