On Monday 4 April, the EU Ministers responsible for Sport supported initiatives to help Ukrainian sportsmen and women to continue their activities (reception of sportsmen and women, provision of infrastructure and equipment, integration of Ukrainians into clubs and teams). Vadym Markovich Gutzeit, the Ukrainian Minister of Sport, called for more sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes.
EU sports ministers discussed on Monday the promotion of the European Union’s values through sport and its organisation.
The French Minister for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, praised in particular the actions of sports clubs from EU countries for the displaced populations of Ukraine. She said, referring to a Polish proposal, that thought should be given to how to encourage the sports movement to “go further” on the presence of Russians and Belarusians in the governing bodies of some international federations where they are still present.
Mr Gutzeit said that athletes from the country had lost their lives defending Ukraine. The Russians are also destroying sports facilities in Ukraine. He welcomed the decisions leading to the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian sportsmen and women from sports competitions and called on the federations and UEFA, inter alia, to ban Russian coaches and sportsmen and women from participating in international competitions, to stop broadcasting Russian and Belarusian competitions, and to ban the financing of international competitions by Russian and Belarusian companies. The participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes should also be cancelled, he said.
Mr Gutzeit thanked the EU countries that are welcoming and helping Ukrainian athletes to train. He welcomed the fact that Finland and Bulgaria had set up training camps for Ukrainian teams.
To help rebuild the devastated country, he proposed that EU countries and sports players become sponsors of “this rebirth of sports clubs” from Ukraine or the creation of a foundation to support Ukrainian sport.
The Polish minister proposed a European support mechanism for Ukrainian athletes.
The Polish delegation raised the related issue of the impact of the war in Ukraine on the European sports sector. It recalled the declaration of ministers from 37 countries on sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes. The Polish minister noted that some federations have remained “rather passive” and called on EU countries to exclude Russia and Belarus from all international associations and federations, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Even Russian referees should be banned from competitions, according to Poland.
Spyros Capralos, President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC), recalled the collaboration with national Olympic committees (Poland, Finland, Estonia, Romania, Austria, Italy) to help Ukrainian athletes (accommodation, sports equipment).
Sustainable development. The EU Council adopted conclusions on the theme of sport and physical activity as “promising levers for transforming behaviour in favour of sustainable development”. This text underlines the need for sport in the broadest sense (practice of sport, production and consumption of sport goods and services, use of sport facilities, etc.) to reduce its impact on the environment, biodiversity and climate.
The conclusions also stress the importance of strengthening the role of sport in educating, raising awareness and changing behaviour in support of the UN’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals’. The Member States, the European Commission and the sport movement have made progress in this area. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)