Apr 17, 2024
The EU Sport Forum is an annual event organised by the European Commission to support the structured dialogue with the sport stakeholders. It is a key event offering a platform allowing sport organisations, representatives of the EU Institutions and Member States to exchange views on the current and future sport policies. This year´s Forum took place in Liege, Belgium, on the 16th and 17th of April and gathered more than 350 participants. It focused on some of the most topical issues in the sport sector, such as integrity, sustainability and gender equality.
EU Athletes was actively involved in the event, representing the views of the organised athletes. Our General Secretary took part in the panel discussion ¨Fair play: integrity and values of athletes¨ alongside experts from organisations such as UNODC and the Council of Europe. Paulina presented the PROtect Integrity Online project, emphasising the work that the player associations are doing to fight against match-fixing. She also spoke about the issues such as the lack of respect of athlete rights, including freedom of association and labour rights, and poor governance, that need to be addressed to protect the integrity of athletes and sport.
Feb 14, 2024
The staff and partners of the PROtect Integrity Online Erasmus+ project met at the Rugby Players Ireland office in Dublin on the 13th of February 2024. The purpose of the catch-up meeting was to review and discuss the implementation of the project so far, particularly when it comes to the integrity education supported by the online educational materials, which is currently implemented by the player associations. The upcoming activities, such as the EU Sport Integrity Day, Final Conference and Practical Guide, were also discussed.
Dec 21, 2023
EU Athletes is pleased with today’s decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered in Case C-124/21 P International Skating Union v Commission which dismisses the appeal filed by the ISU and upholds the cross-appeal from Mark Tuitert, Niels Kerstholt and EU Athletes.
The Court of Justice affirmed that the eligibility rules of the International Skating Union (ISU), granting its authority to approve international skating events and penalise athletes participating in unauthorised competitions, violate EU law. Such regulations provide the ISU with an unfair advantage over its competitors and result in adverse outcomes for athletes.
Importantly, the Court of Justice maintains that the Commission was accurate in challenging the arbitration rules that limit skaters’ access to court proceedings.
This case holds immense significance for every athlete and player as central to its essence lies athletes’ rights to engage in competition and leverage their commercial opportunities. It also addresses athletes’ access to justice and their entitlement to protection under EU laws as citizens and workers.
EU Athletes has been supporting Dutch speed skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt since their initial complaint in 2014, through the #ChanceToCompete campaign and as the interveners throughout the procedure. We extend our congratulations to Mark and Niels for embarking on this challenging journey and for making an immense contribution to enhancing the situation of athletes.
We would like to express gratitude to the legal experts: Ben van Rompuy and Antoine Duval as well as to Bas Braeken, Jade Versteeg and Timo Hieselaar from Bureau Brandeis.
Natalia Orive, the President of EU Athletes, said: “I am proud of our involvement in this landmark case as it contributes to EU Athletes mission of protecting and advancing the rights and interests of the players. It is important to reiterate that the sport organisations cannot abuse their position at the expense of athletes.”
Paulina Tomczyk, the General Secretary of EU Athletes, added: “Today’s decision is a great win for Mark and Niels, but also for the player association movement that has been actively supporting their fight for almost a decade. I believe it is a step in the right direction to ensure good governance and respect of athlete’s rights in sport.”
Statement
Oct 27, 2023
The educational videos in English, Danish, French, Italian and Spanish were designed as a part of the Erasmus+ project PROtect Integrity Online co-funded by the European Union. The videos incorporate the key messages from the previously revised Code of Conduct for Athletes and aim to educate the athletes as well as the broader sporting community on fighting against match fixing and corruption in sport.
The educational videos were created for eight player associations participating in the project and EU Athletes:
AJFS (men’s futsal, Spain):
AJFSF (women’s futsal, Spain):
RPI (Rugby, Ireland):
HSF (Handball, Denmark):
GIBA (Basketball, Italy):
AIP (Volleyball, Italy):
SNB (Basketball, France):
AJPH (Handball, France):
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
