Nov 21, 2019
A meeting organized by the Association des Clubs Professionnels de Volleyball has taken place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on 15th of November 2019. On the invitation of ACPV, Blagovest Petrov, a former volleyball player and the General Secretary of Spanish Volleyball Players Association (AJJV) was there to represent his organization as well as EU Athletes.
It was an opportunity to talk about the development of player associations in Europe as well as different projects and initiative we are supporting, particularly on dual career and player development. Furthermore, the current volleyball transfer policy and the issues it brings were discussed. We believe that dialogue between all stakeholders are necessary to modify and improve the system which is now in place.
EU Athletes and its member associations representing volleyball players are looking forward to further cooperation with ACPV for the benefit of the athletes and the sport itself.
Nov 20, 2019
EU Athletes, as a partner in Integrisport Erasmus+ project, took part in the event in Budapest in order to talk about player unions role and work when it comes to fighting against match-fixing. During the 3-day training organized specially for members of the Hungarian Police, as well as the National Tax and Customs Administration, the Hungarian Prosecution Service and judges of the Hungarian Criminal Court, participants had an opportunity to discuss openly sport manipulation and match fixing and how this phenomenon has been affecting Hungary.
International experts including the Vice Federal Prosecutor of the Belgian Federal Prosecution Service and representatives from the EU Athletes and Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) and from the coordinator of Integrisport Erasmus+, CSCF-Foundation for Sport Integrity. animated the exchange. Their contributions were accompanied by national expertise from the Hungarian Football Federation, the Hungarian Football Player’s Union, the Hungarian Lottery, Szerencsejáték Zrt, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Hungarian Prosecution Service.
The Hungarian Police and CSCF-Foundation for Sport Integrity also informed the participants of the activities of the Hungarian National Platform related to the Council of Europe Convention on Manipulations of Sports Competitions including international co-operation.
As Lt. Colonel Zita Zmolnik, Deputy Director of the National Investigation Bureau, said in her opening speech: “National and international law enforcement and judicial co-operation, and the common thought of relevant public stakeholders and the private sector, are vital in order to successfully fight against this special type of crime phenomenon.” In order to combat sport manipulation, law enforcement and judicial authorities need to be prepared. This is where Integrisport Erasmus+ has an important role: by providing awareness raising to law enforcement agencies, which is crucial to achieve this aim.
Norbert Rubicsek, director of CSCF and Integrisport Erasmus+ project manager added, “Law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities are the primary stakeholders involved in the investigative and court phases of criminal law cases of manipulations of sports competitions. It is therefore extremely important that on the one hand they are well prepared and informed and on the other hand, that other stakeholders fully understand the role of these key stakeholders. Law enforcement and judiciary are the link to completing the chain in a sports manipulation criminal case and are also a vital link in identifying legislation that needs to be in place to effectively combat manipulations of sports competitions.
The Integrisport Erasmus+ awareness raising sessions in each partner country give law enforcement officers and judicial authorities the possibility to better understand and tackle the dangers of sport manipulation to sport and the society. Project partners include Cyprus Police, Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (FINCIS), Rapid Response and Special Police Force – Hungary, National Tax and Customs Administration – Hungary, Ministry of Security and Justice – the Netherlands, The Department of Physical Education and Sports – Lithuania, Ministry of Justice – Judicial Police – Portugal, Presidium of the Police Force, Ministry of Interior – Slovak Republic, GLMS – The Global Lottery Monitoring System, EU Athletes, Aix-Marseille University – Centre of Sport and the coordinator, Stichting CSCF – Foundation for Sport Integrity and the Council of Europe (CoE) as a supporting organisation. Integrisport is also a partner project of the KCOOS+ project of the CoE.
The next awareness raising session will be held in Vilnius in December 2019.
For more information, please visit:
Nov 8, 2019
The event took part in Katowice, Poland on 5-7th of November and gathered around 1500 participants. The Conference and the accompanying meetings of WADA Executive Committee and the Foundation Board were an opportunity to approve the new International Standards as well as the 2021 World Anti Doping Code. Regarding the substantial changes, EU Athletes is pleased to see a new article 10.2.4 on Substance of Abuse, which is a step in the right direction regarding the health and welfare of players, an approach that player unions have been advocating for many years.
The new WADA President Witold Banka and vice-President Yang Yang were also officially appointed in Katowice to start their work in the new respective roles next year. Both Mr Bank and Ms Yang participated in the informal meeting with athlete representatives, including EU Athletes and World Players Association.
For Paulina Tomczyk, EU Athletes General Secretary: ‘We appreciate this approach and count for further dialogue as more work is needed in order to make sure that the anti-doping system is fair, proportionate and respects the rights of players. Athletes need to be able to take part in creation of the rules that affect them and importantly, to be represented by the people of their own chosing in that process.’
For further information, EU Athletes’ members common position on anti-doping can be found here.
Nov 4, 2019
Since January 2018, EU Athletes has been involved as a parnert the EU-funded project ‘European Social Dialogue Targeted Initiative: Strenghtening social Dialogue in the Professional Basketball Sector’. The project, coordinated by UNI Europa, allowed the player unions representing basketball players to participate in a number of meetings and work together in oder to discuss current issues and challenges, share best practices and learn from each other. Importantly, newly established player associations could also benefit from the knowledge and advice from the more experienced ones.
As the final action of the project which concluded this fall, top level players from 5 player associations (Sporta-Belgium, SNB-France, GIBA-Italy, ABP-Spain, ZZK-Poland) participated in a video where they talked about the reasons to join and to support their unions. While the reasons can be different for everyone, the common message from athletes around the Europe remains: ‘We are stronger together’.
Oct 18, 2019
For the first time hosted outside Europe, Play the Game took place in Colorado Springs 13-16th of October 2019. With over 300 participants, the Conference provided a venue for inspiring debates on the most topical themes in the world of sport with the conference’s main theme: Athlete power on the rise. Play the Game 2019 also took on classic themes like doping, whistleblowing, match-fixing, corruption, but also one of the most discussed topics in the U.S., elite sport and college education, will be at centre stage during the conference.
The host city of Play the Game 2019 has a prominent position in U.S. sport and is also an Olympic City USA. The city also hosts the main Olympic and Paralympic Training Center along with over 25 national sports federations plus the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and United States Olympic Committee.
For Paulina Tomczyk, EU Athletes General Secretary who was involved in the organization of the Conference as a member of Programme Committee: ‘Athletes are increasingly standing up for their rights and want to work in partnership with sport to develop in a way which will benefit all stakeholders. Athletes’ power is an essential factor to go forward and as the representative of independent player unions and associations, I am happy to share the model that have already been a part of such positive developments in many professional and elite level sports.’
More information on the event can be found on the website. Videos from conference sessions are available on Play the Game YouTube channel.
