The days of university initiation ceremonies – at which students are compelled to perform outrageous tasks, usually while extremely drunk, in order to join a sports club or society – are numbered.

Amid growing concerns about the rituals, which have been linked to mental health problems and blamed for at least one student death, the body that organises student sport competitions has set up a dedicated service that allows those who have concerns about the ceremonies to report them anonymously.

The “problem initiation” area of the British Universities & Colleges Sport website provides information on types of behaviour associated with initiations and gives students and parents the ability to submit a report, either anonymously or by sharing basic contact information. The reports are then made anonymous before being passed to the relevant university to investigate. BUCS will receive a report on the outcome of the investigation and evaluate whether further action needs to be taken.

Typical examples that have concerned university authorities down the years include students being forced to swallow goldfish, eat dog food and rub chillies on their genitals, often in various states of undress and usually intoxicated.

“Students should understand that problem initiations are not permitted by universities and will not be tolerated by BUCS,” said Vince Mayne, its chief executive. “We want to ensure that sport at university is fully accessible to all and the activities of a few individuals do not stop people playing the sport they love or trying a new sport.

“BUCS are determined to address this negative aspect of university sport and promote the incredibly positive contribution that sport makes to the employability, health and wellbeing of thousands of students, as well as the volunteering and community engagement which students carry out.”

Professor Bob Allison, the vice-chancellor of Loughborough University, where sport is a large part of campus life, welcomed the move.

“Like all institutions, we have our own challenges in this area and understand the importance of students being able to report concerns, where necessary anonymously,” Allison said. “We also recognise the need for robust, firm and fair interventions that leave members of the university community in no doubt that such behaviour is unacceptable and has no place in higher education.”

Allison said that initiation ceremonies were putting students off from participating in sport.

“Sport is part of Loughborough’s DNA and plays an incredibly important role in the student experience at many different levels – from keeping fit to competing on the world stage. There must be no barriers to sport participation.”

In 2016 a Newcastle University student, Ed Farmer, 20, died following an “initiation-style” bar crawl. His father, Jeremy, has called for a “line in the sand” to be drawn, so that “from here on in everybody knows initiations are banned and if you step over that line you will be removed from university”.

Mark Saltmarsh, the head of education and age grade rugby at England Rugby, a sport where initiation ceremonies are prevalent, said they threatened to undermine the positive contribution the game made to many people’s lives.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people who do a superb job on and off the pitch every week of the season to live out the values of our game for the rugby and wider community. But we still hear examples of poor behaviour in university rugby that conflict with these values and the inclusive foundations of team sport.

“While we acknowledge that this is not just a rugby problem or always easy to control, we are determined not to stand by and ignore it.”