Sports policies in times of crisis
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 26 January 2022 (5th sitting) (see Doc. 15426, report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education
and Media, rapporteur: Mr Carlos Alberto Gonçalves). Text adopted by the Assembly on
26 January 2022 (5th sitting).
1. The Covid-19 pandemic has completely
disrupted the world of sport, which has been one of the sectors hardest
hit by the restrictions imposed. The Parliamentary Assembly highlights
the important part played by sport in the economic systems of the
Council of Europe member States but above all its key role as a
means of building social capital, its contribution to social inclusion
and combating inequalities, its educational impact and, of course,
its beneficial effects on health and quality of life.
2. The Assembly welcomes the new text of the revised European
Sports Charter of the Council of Europe, which states that access
to sport for all is a fundamental right and asserts that all human
beings have an inalienable right of access to sport in a healthy
environment.
3. The recovery and sustainable development strategies, which
are designed to rebuild even better what has been destroyed by the
crisis, should foster an appreciation of the value of sport and
physical activity as factors for human development and personal
and collective well-being and for social development and economic
growth, taking due account of its links with other sectors such
as health, education, tourism, construction, transport, media, retail
and others. There is a need to highlight the leverage effect that
promoting sport can have in all these sectors and to step up co-operation
between public authorities and sports organisations to create conditions
which foster active lifestyles and facilitate and normalise access
to physical activity and sport.
4. The flow of financial aid must not fuel corruption. The level
of oversight has to be raised and respect for the highest standards
of integrity should be a prerequisite for the provision of financial
support or support in kind for sport. Co-operation must be established
between all stakeholders to ensure a consistent multistakeholder
and multidisciplinary approach and to fight corruption in sports
competitions effectively.
5. International sports governing bodies have a responsibility
to seek out balanced, well-thought-out solutions in response to
public health and financial issues which cannot easily be reconciled.
This must not be carried out in a way that is opaque, without listening
carefully to all stakeholders. Qualification tournaments, the Olympic
and Paralympic Games and other international competitions must take
place safely: athletes and other people involved must not be forced
to weigh up their participation against their health and the health
of others.
6. To back up the financial recovery of the sport sector and
increase the resilience of the sport system, safeguard mechanisms
have to be established and financial solidarity needs to be enhanced,
operating between high-level and grass-roots sport, and between
different sports and across the world.
7. The whole sports movement, from top to bottom, should learn
lessons from the crisis, so as to evolve and modernise. Sports organisations
and clubs should, in particular, gear their services even more to
the needs of athletes and members. Digitisation could be a driving
force in this regard. Various online tools allow for sports activities
to be set up remotely, thus keeping members involved. The digital
transition needs to be integrated into provision strategies, though
this should not mean that proven models of in-person provision are abandoned.
8. Among the joint responsibilities of public authorities and
sports governing bodies as major sporting events gradually resume,
particular attention should be paid to issues relating to spectator
safety, security and services, based on the integrated approach
advocated by the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety,
Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports
Events (CETS No. 218, Saint-Denis Convention). All member States
should ratify it and all stakeholders in the sporting world should contribute
to its implementation.
9. The Assembly also highlights the importance of getting fans
and sportsmen and women more involved, through the intermediary
of the organisations representing them, in all stages of the decision-making
process concerning sporting events; their active involvement can
only increase the legitimacy, understanding and observance of restrictive
measures.
10. Accordingly, the Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member
States to:
10.1 follow the principles
and approaches of the revised European Sports Charter of the Council
of Europe when devising and implementing legal and policy frameworks
for sport;
10.2 incorporate sport into recovery and resilience plans and
mechanisms and to integrate support measures for sport into economic
and social sustainable development strategies, including smart specialisation
strategies and regional or local development strategies, while ensuring
that a fair share of the resources allocated to the sport sector
– including at regional and local levels – are used to support the
recovery of grass-roots sport; in this context, there is a need
to:
10.2.1 ensure that sport is eligible for any national
funds and mechanisms that are set up to provide emergency aid and
assistance;
10.2.2 develop funding support schemes for sports organisations
and clubs, paying particular attention to small grass-roots clubs,
and establishing simple and rapid procedures for accessing funding,
relaxed eligibility requirements enabling as many potential recipients
as possible to benefit and an assistance and advice service for
small bodies; to ensure, in this context, that a fair share of the
funds available goes to women’s sport;
10.2.3 provide targeted funding for the most vulnerable people
(athletes in difficulty, amateur athletes and volunteers) and, in
the longer term, consider other forms of support for athletes’ professional
and personal development – ensuring that men and women can benefit
from these on an equal footing – including mentoring, education
and capacity building in key areas (for example media training,
financial management, marketing, risk and career management) and promoting
dual-career opportunities;
10.2.4 promote the development of sporting infrastructures and
an environment conducive to sporting activities and physical exercise
that facilitates access to sport for all;
10.2.5 help low-income families and their children to access
sporting activities and adopt measures to improve provision, aiming
at the development of sports activities for health or activities
geared to specific groups (such as sport prescribed by doctors or
distributing sports vouchers to people with more limited access
to sport than others, to be used to pay for subscriptions or one-off
sporting activities); at the same time, encourage sports governing
bodies and sports clubs to develop a range of activities geared
to various groups, while also aiming to develop women’s sport;
10.2.6 value sport and physical education in the context of education
systems and encourage sport and outdoor activities in the school
curriculum during the pandemic measures and beyond;
10.3 ratify, if they have not yet done so, the Council of Europe
Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach
at Football Matches and Other Sports Events (CETS No. 218, Saint-Denis
Convention) and the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation
of Sports Competitions (CETS No. 215, Macolin Convention);
10.4 adopt relevant standards and sanctions to protect the
integrity of sports competitions from manipulation, to set up whistle-blowing
mechanisms and to provide, in co-operation with sports organisations,
awareness programmes and training in sports ethics and integrity;
sponsorship of sport by the betting industry must be properly regulated
and overseen, including provisions on conflicts of interest, responsible
gambling, research and exchange of information, education and training;
10.5 encourage, in co-operation with sports organisations,
the active involvement of fans and athletes in all stages of the
organisation of a sporting event, in particular (but not only) with
regard to the measures put in place to safeguard health and safety.
11. The Assembly invites the European institutions to ensure that
the sport sector can benefit from the European Regional Development
Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, EU4Health
and other EU financial instruments and to show solidarity, considering
the possibility of broadening access for non-EU member States to
the European funds available and developing transfrontier partnerships
in the sporting sphere.
12. The Assembly calls on the International Olympic Committee
and other international sports governing bodies to:
12.1 conduct open, participatory
and transparent decision-making processes on the continuation, cancellation
or postponement of international sports competitions and the health
rules imposed on athletes, including enhancing the means for the
media to follow decision-making processes closely;
12.2 improve co-ordination when deciding on the calendar for
major international sports competitions, ensuring that it is not
overloaded;
12.3 launch a thorough review of the mechanisms for financial
solidarity between high-level and grass-roots sport, between different
sports and across the world, and aim for a more balanced distribution
of revenues from the sale of broadcasting rights;
12.4 review model contracts (for example those with host cities
and other venues for the staging of major international competitions,
or broadcasting contracts) in order to better anticipate and cover
the risks that further waves of pandemic (or other similar threats)
may create;
12.5 look into building financial safeguards and compensation
mechanisms into the funding systems of National Olympic Committees
and sports federations so as to limit the impact of the cancellation
or postponement of a major event on their financial stability and,
for example, to:
12.5.1 give thought to creating reserve
funds specific to each international federation and solidarity funds
at the level of the major worldwide umbrella organisations, into
which a minimum percentage of the revenue from each major event
they organise would have to be paid, until the funds reach a sufficiently
high level;
12.5.2 consider setting up reserve funds at National Olympic
Committee level by engaging in dialogue with national authorities
which might promote and support this process;
12.5.3 contemplate setting up collective insurance mechanisms,
at least provisionally;
12.6 draw up clear health guidelines and requirements for holding
competitions in order to ensure effective protection of the health
of the public, athletes and all other persons involved;
12.7 seek to ensure that athletes who have been vaccinated
during pandemics, with vaccines available and recognised in their
countries, can participate fully in international tournaments and competitions;
12.8 promote the sharing of experience and information on the
effectiveness of the measures adopted with regard to, for example,
health and safety requirements, training opportunities, athletes’
rights and duties during lockdown, and accessing Covid-19 resources
(personal protective equipment or testing equipment, for example);
12.9 ensure that there is no discrimination on the grounds
of nationality as regards access to training facilities, which should
remain open to all competing athletes, whichever country they are
from.
