Brussels, 08/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, announced the names of the four first European Week of Sport Ambassadors. The European Week of Sport event will take place on 7-13 September next. The nominees are the footballers Clarence Seedorf and Steven Gerrard, the “skeet” shooter and skiing champion, Danka Barteková and the Paralympic alpine skier Marie Brochet.
The role of the ambassadors will be to promote the event among the public and encourage people to practise sport or engage in physical activity. The Commissioner explained: “European Week of Sport will be a great occasion to show people that sport is fun, makes us feel better and can contribute to a longer, healthier life. What is more, sport can also help to strengthen tolerance and mutual respect, to create a sense of belonging and build communities - which is today more vital than ever”. The Commissioner was delighted with the participation of these leading sports figures in the event which he said would “help us spread these positive messages” and encourage other sport figures to get involved as ambassadors over the coming weeks.
The European Week of Sport is an event proposed by the European Parliament, with the backing of the member states. It is expected to become an important tool in promoting sport and physical activity in our societies and daily life. The event will be organised on an annual basis and the Erasmus + programme, which has a budget of €265 million for the sports section, will provide substantial financial support. The first partnership documents with 14 sports organisations were signed at the European Sport Forum in Milan on 1-2 December 2014.
In this connection, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) also signed an agreement on 2 June in which it makes a commitment to promoting the European Week of Sport. It also emphasised that television was an important means of helping people discover new forms of exercise that can help Europeans improve their physical condition.
The European Lotteries (EL) also signed an agreement on 2 June with the European Commission that seeks to promote the European Week of Sport. EL is committed to raising awareness about the event in association member countries through their different communication platforms and by organising national level activities. An event will also be organised in Brussels during European Week of Sport. (Isabelle Lamberty)