Aug 30, 2023
Brussels, 30.08.2023
In the light of the unacceptable behaviour of Luis Rubiales, the President of RFEF (Spanish Football Federation), during the FIFA Women’s World Cup final, as well as the subsequent events, EU Athletes strongly condemns such act as inappropriate, damaging to the values of sport and contrary to the rights and dignity of athletes.
EU Athletes is committed to the principles of good governance and the ongoing fight for gender equity in sport and beyond. We express our support to Jennifer Hermoso and other Spanish national team players and are glad to see the solidarity from the players and other sport stakeholders.
We believe that in order to eradicate such behaviours from sport and wider society it is essential to make sure that they do not go unpunished. Not only Mr Rubiales, but all sport officials responsible for or involved in attempts to disregard the incident, silence, coerce or blame the player should face appropriate consequences.
Contact: Paulina Tomczyk, General Secretary paulinatomczyk@euathletes.org
Jul 6, 2023
As a part of the Erasmus+ PROtect Integrity Online project, the new version of the Code of Conduct for Athletes was developed in cooperation with the project partners.
Two versions of the Code of Conduct were produced: a leaflet and a poster. The poster focuses on 5 key messages to educate players on fighting against match fixing and corruption in sport, while the leaflet includes short description in addition to the messages. The text has been reviewed to keep the messages clear, grab attention, and call to action. These materials will support the implementation of integrity education organised by the player associations involved in the project and will be used both online and during in-person team visits.
For instance, Rugby Players Ireland (RPI) has already started implementing anti-manipulation education to players with the help of the Code of Conduct.
The Code of Conduct is available in five languages and can be downloaded here.
The project researcher Pim Verschuuren from the University of Rennes 2 completed the Report on Mapping and Recommendations for Developing Education Materials. The report includes a review of existing education practices, literature review on integrity education, analysis on the anti-doping educational framework, and recommendations for the design, implementation and evaluation of education strategies.
The findings of the report have been considered during the update of the Code of Conduct and will continue to guide the development of education materials and the implementation of the education in the following months.
The Report on Mapping and Recommendations for Developing Education Materials is available here.
Jun 7, 2023
On the 7th of June 2023, all 10 partners of PROtect Integrity Online Erasmus Plus project gathered at Italian Basketball Players Association (GIBA) office in Bologna, Italy. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare to the key phase of the project: implementation of integrity education to professional athletes from 5 countries and 5 major team sports, covering more than 3 000 athletes every year.
The project focused on development and finalisation of deliverables which will be essential to the delivery of education: the report which will offer revue of the status quo when it comes to integrity education and provide recommendations for developing education programmes, Code of Conduct for Athletes in 5 different language versions, as well as supporting materials such as posters, leaflets and educational videos.
8 player associations will start the team visits this summer, making an important contribution to fighting against the match fixing and protecting the integrity of sport.
Jun 6, 2023
On Tuesday the 6th of June 2023, EU Athletes members gathered for the EU Athletes General Assembly 2023 in Bologna, Italy. Over 20 representatives of athlete and player associations from different sports and countries across Europe participated in the General Assembly this year.
The meeting focused on the discussions about EU Athletes priorities and activities, including policy work, EU funded projects and the ISU case. The participants also engaged in workshops to discuss the key issues and build the future work of EU Athletes to best support the athlete associations and the European athletes.
In 2023, four candidates stood for the elections for the Board positions. Simon Keogh (RPI) and Marc Leroy (United Athletes) were re-elected to the Board of EU Athletes for terms of three and two years respectively. Julie Campassens (SNB) and Line Ottersen Dahlberg (NISO) were elected to the Board for a three years term each.
The General Assembly was followed by the Board meeting, during which Natalia Orive (AJFSF) was elected as the President of EU Athletes and Simon Keogh (RPI) as the Vice-President.
The members thanked Brendon Batson, who has decided to step down from his position as President this year, for his leadership and dedication over the past years.
May 3, 2023
On the 2-3rd of May, EU Sport Forum, organised by the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency took place in Stockholm. The Forum is a key event for the stakeholders in the sport sector, gathering over 400 participants for the 2023 edition. This year’s edition focused on topics such as good governance, integrity and sustainability of sport.
Paulina Tomczyk, the General Secretary of EU Athletes, represented the organised athletes in the panel discussion ‘Good governance and athlete rights’. She emphasised the importance of freedom of association for the athletes, not only in the context of forming and joining athlete associations, but also sport organisations and governments engaging with those bodies when it comes to decision making in sport.
‘Without athletes there is no sport. Collectively, athletes have a huge power of change. They can reform the sport governance into the system compatible with good governance. The goal is to have an equal partnership and cooperation between athlete and sport organisation, with decision making based on social dialogue and collective negotiations, with respect the rights of athletes and all stakeholders’ – said Paulina during her intervention.
