Working towards a framework for modern sports governance

In the draft resolution, after paragraph 20, insert the following paragraph:

"The Assembly invites stakeholders, including sports governing bodies, governments, non-governmental bodies, sports industry, sponsors, etc., to jointly set up a global sports governance foundation with its own multi-stakeholder board of advisors, a proper board of directors and independent funding. This foundation could, inter alia, focus on the creation and evolution of the rating model and offer grants to sports organisations that are willing to voluntarily solicit their rating and to governments or sports governing bodies who wish to commission unsolicited rating of any sport organisation."

At the end of the draft resolution, insert the following Appendix: "1. Sports organisations at local, national and international level are called upon to: Concerning Transparency • make public their vision/mission/values and a strategy plan that specifies how to achieve them; • make public their statute, rules and regulations on their website; • make public the list of members and the basic information of their officials; • make public the agenda and minutes of the their General Assembly meetings; • make public reports/decisions taken by executive bodies and commissions; • make public an annual general activity report on their websites; • make public an annual financial report, externally audited according to recognised international standards, including compensation, benefits and/or salary of its president, board members, executive staff and senior officials (where applicable). Concerning Democracy • hold regular, transparent, free and fair elections of the governing bodies. These have to be based on a detailed electoral regulation, including secret ballots, term limits, eligibility check carried out by a specific independent committee, opportunities for the candidates to present their programme/manifesto, guarantees for gender equality on the board and with regard to the leading officials; • ensure that the distribution of representative positions in governing bodies reflects gender balance and encourages, to the extent possible, diversity and fair geographical representation; • put in place a clear governance structure, taking into account the principle of separation of powers; • establish procedural guarantees for a democratic decision-making process: meeting of their General Assembly at least once a year; meeting of the governing bodies on a regular basis; written reports on the basis of the bodies’ decisions, with sound regulations for open or secret ballots be used depending on the need either to ensure higher transparency or to safeguards anonymity of choices; • set up guarantees for an efficient decision-making process: clear and auditable separation of functions between executive, administrative and commercial activities; appointment of the management (e.g. directors and top officials) on the basis of objective criteria (integrity, relevant knowledge, skills and experience) and an impeccable professional history; internal management communication and coordination; • develop external cooperation with governments, Olympic movement, international and non-governmental agencies on integrity issues. Concerning Integrity • set up independent audit and compliance committees, responsible for: ensuring the adequacy of the organisation’s financial reporting and the integrity of the Organisation’s financial statement; assisting the board for the compensation of company executives in the absence of a remuneration committee; checking the organisation’s nominations and appointments and carrying out the eligibility check for the elective offices in the absence of a nomination committee; elaborating risk management strategy and processes; • conduct an ethical and disciplinary control based on: ethics/integrity code, inspired by the IOC Code of Ethics; clear rules on conflicts of interests; disciplinary rules to combat match-fixing and doping; independent bodies (Ethics and Disciplinary Committees) and a mechanism to manage comments and allegations by whistle-blowers; • ensure internal appeal mechanisms and external channel of complaint and dispute resolutions. Concerning Development and Responsibility • adopt a financial redistribution policy and programmes for their main stakeholders; • allocate resources in declared non-profit objectives, in particular in grassroots activities; • set up an environmental and social responsibility strategy or programme(s), including social and sporting legacy requirements for those (countries, cities, communities) hosting all their events and a close cooperation with governmental and non-governmental agencies on social responsibility issues; • elaborate an athletes’ policy comprising: a clear anti-discrimination policy; education programmes and assistance during and after career; specific actions to promote health and safety, in accordance with the relevant regulations on the protection of the athletes, spectators, workers, children, youth and other vulnerable groups. 2. Sport has other specific sides that need to be taken into consideration when developing proactive policies and regulatory frameworks. These concern ensuring: - level playing field and protection of athletes, including against doping, match-fixing, illegal betting, abuse or trafficking; minimum requirements for athletes’ contracts; youth development in sport; - the integrity of sports events, including bidding processes and selection of event hosts, ticket pricing and distribution, selection of sponsors, granting media broadcasting rights, building event infrastructure for major events, respect of the bidder and its commercial partners to human rights and labour standards. 3. Following in the steps of the new 2016 IOC Code of Ethics, the core criteria of good governance in sport should explicitly refer to the respect for international conventions on protecting human rights, notably but not exclusively as regards the respect of human dignity, rejection of discrimination of any kind on whatever grounds and rejection of all forms of harassment, be it physical, professional or sexual, and any physical or mental injuries. 4. When elaborating the core criteria of good governance in sport, convergence should also be sought with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the Council of Europe conventions on corruption [the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS No. 173), the Civil Law Convention on Corruption (ETS No. 174), the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (CETS No. 191)] as well as with the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance."