04/11/2024 President | Parliamentary support
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, speaking at an Athens conference, has hailed what he called “the transformative power of sport”, and urged all sides to work together to make sport a positive force for society.
The two-day conference (4-5 November 2024), jointly organised by PACE and the Hellenic Parliament, is bringing together parliamentarians, policy-makers, athletes, sporting organisations and experts in the cradle of the Olympics to discuss promoting safety, integrity, equality and inclusion in sport.
“The role of sport extends far beyond the football stadium or the swimming pool. It long ago ceased to be just a leisure activity - where people simply measure who jumped further or lifted more weight,” the President pointed out. “Sport, due to its huge public following and enormous media attention, has evolved into a powerful tool that teaches those involved important values such as fairness, integrity, mutual respect, equality and inclusion.”
But sport, he added, also has the capacity to “transmit and promote values, ideas and modes of behaviour to society as a whole. It has the power to bring people together, inspire hope, and foster inclusion.”
As a part of society, sport could also sometimes reflect many of its problems and challenges, such as violence and abuse, corruption, doping and match-fixing, as well as gender imbalances, discrimination, hate speech and the exclusion of marginalised groups. In countries ruled by authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, it could become a source of propaganda and even transmit negative values.
In the current context, the President pointed out, “it is simply dangerous to leave the power of sport to influence people in the hands of dictators. Instead, we should find a way to direct it to promote the values of peace, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” It was the duty of parliamentarians and others to join efforts to make sport a “positive force”, he said.
Following opening remarks by the President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine An. Tassoulas, Greece's Alternate Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport Ioannis Vroutsis highlighted the efforts made around Europe in general, and in Greece in particular, to reverse negative indicators when it comes to sport for people with disabilities.
“I’m extremely proud to welcome a huge project of major importance for the Paralympic movement: the construction of the first Paralympic sports venue in Athens. We have been ranking close to the bottom for many years, but now we have more than one hundred municipalities participating in this important project,” he underlined. Nowadays, he added, “we are looking into establishing a culture that will not only broaden the appeal of sport, but also bring down the cost, which will allow sport to become an integral part of our citizens' well-being”.
“The Council of Europe believes in sport for all and is determined to work to deliver clean, open, inclusive sports practices and sports organisations, with a culture of transparency and good governance,” said Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who also addressed the conference.
He highlighted the range of major tools developed by the Organisation, including the Anti-doping Convention, the Saint-Denis Convention – which ensures that sporting events are safe for those who participate and attend – and the Macolin Convention, which brings public authorities together with sports organisations, competition organisers and betting companies to detect and punish those seeking to manipulate sports competitions. “By working together, and bringing national parliaments closer to all our work, we can expand its reach,” he said, welcoming the decision to set up a Parliamentary Alliance for good governance and integrity in sport. “Values-based sport is in all our interests,” Mr Berge concluded.
There was also a special award ceremony for Greek Olympic and Paralympic Champions, who were present for the opening of the conference.
