Brussels, 26/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Good governance in sport was acknowledged by the relevant ministers, on 26 November, as one of the pillars of sports culture. Progress must be made in this field, not only at European but also at national and local levels, but one should avoid “over-regulation” and give preference to “self-regulation”. It is up to the sporting organisations to take the matter in hand under the surveillance and the encouragement of the public authorities. That, in essence, is what is stated in the conclusions reached by EU sports ministers after the public deliberations organised by the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council.
The commissioner responsible for sport policy, Androulla Vassiliou, said the subject of good governance has become one of the priorities of their exchanges of views and actions, and sport must be free from all political or administrative influence. Speaking of respect of the principle of autonomy in sport, the commissioner underlined that autonomy does not mean being above the law. Sports organisations must abide by European and national rules, and management is not always the very best, she said. Sport is faced with many challenges, and implementation of good governance is the best way such challenges can be met, the Lithuanian home minister, Alfonsas Dailis Barakauskas, said. A little earlier in the day, ministers met representatives of sports organisations, as part of structured dialogue. The conclusion of the dialogue was that there had to be greater awareness of the values of sport as well as the establishment of transparent rules for the remuneration of sportsmen and sportswomen, Barakauskas said.
Sport is blighted by many things that tarnish its image: doping, match fixing, the manipulation of sports results by the organised crime, etc. Good governance is absolutely necessary to combat such scourges and the exchange of best practice is essential in this fight as such challenges affect every member state, ministers stress. After the fashion of Austria, several member states have spoken of a common framework, and the need to increase cooperation between the stakeholders and member states. Invited to give her point of view, the lawyer and former athlete, Sylvia Schenk, highlighted a factor that was not tackled by the ministers during their debate: the importance of sponsors. She went on to comment that sponsors must be “on the right side to ensure good governance in sport”. (IL/transl.jl)