Brussels, 21/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a public debate on Wednesday 21 May, ministers responsible for sport examined the viability of major sports events from an economic, social and environmental points of view. The Greek minister for culture and audiovisual affairs, Panos Panagiotopoulos, asserted: “Europe cannot continue to work in isolation when organising major sports events. Today, we need coordination to ensure optimum use of infrastructure… which means major investment”. He welcomed the dialogue with representatives from sports organisations on this theme at a meeting held prior to the debate.
Ministers for sport agreed that it is becoming very difficult in practical and financial terms for a single country, particularly for small countries, to organise major sports events on their own and it was therefore necessary to work together in the future to organise these events. Such events have a positive impact on tourism because they raise the profile of the different cities and regions that organise the events. These sports events also bring a lot to the local economy, which benefits from the influx of visitors, in addition to the job creation, albeit temporary, which they generate. On the other hand, the financial costs involved in creating new infrastructure needed for holding these events compel organisers to build solid infrastructure that can be used after the sports events in question at a local sporting level, undelined ministers. This objective was reached by Finland following the 1952 Olympic Games. The Finnish minister was pleased to point out that the infrastructure developed for these games is still being used today. The Austrian minister called for particular attention to be paid to human rights in the organisation of sports events. He particularly denounced the conditions close to slavery for workers building the sports arenas in Qatar, the country hosting the football World Cup in 2022. Portugal and France deplored the sometimes “disproportionate” measures demanded of certain sports federations when organising sports events. (IL)