The survey was completed by 375 adult athletes from 35 sports federations in the country.

Likewise, 41 per cent said they did not know where to go to obtain support or denounce and 57 per cent said they did not know the law against harassment and sexual harassment.

The study was adapted from the US Center for SafeSport's 2020 Athlete Culture and Climate Survey.

"As a result of the findings, the National Olympic Committee proposes that a law should be created that punishes non-accidental violence in sport that, in addition, guarantees a neutral space where complaints are received and processed and that provides the accompaniment and guidance that the victim requires at a legal and psychological level," read a CONCRC statement.

Methodologist Lucía Marín and sports psychologist Wendy Zúñiga acted as safeguarding officers certified by the International Olympic Committee.

They received authorisation from the SafeSport Center to translate and adapt the survey to the Costa Rican context.

The study was also validated by specialist María Loreto González from Chile, who is in charge of the Office for Respect in the country.

"It is important to specify that Safe Sport must be understood as an environment where athletes, as well as other people in the sports context (technical staff, medical staff, etc.) can train and compete in a healthy, supportive, respectful environment, equitable and free from any form of non-accidental violence," added the statement.

"Non-accidental violence in sport is the intention to abuse or violate through behaviours that are not appropriate for the integral development of people, it can be an isolated act or a pattern of behaviours repeated over time and can manifest itself through four forms - psychological violence, physical violence, sexual violence and negligence.

"Each of them can occur in isolation or in combination with each other."

Fifty-six per cent of respondents claim to have been the victim of at least one manifestation of psychological violence in a sporting context while nearly 23 per cent reported the same in terms of sexual violence.