Dec 19, 2022
After several months of consultations and cooperation, EU Athletes is proud to publish the newest Common Position Paper of the Member of European Elite Athletes Association. Following on previous documents published in 2016 and 2018, the Paper presents the agreed positions of player unions and associations representing over 25,000 athletes in various sports and countries across Europe on 12 topics that have been identified as fundamental for professional and elite athletes:
1. Athlete rights are human rights
2. Athletes as workers
3. Good governance in sport
4. Economic dimension of sport
5. Match-fixing
6. Anti-doping
7. Dual career, personal development and wellbeing
8. Access to justice
9. Women’s sport
10. Recovery and sustainability of the sport sector
11. ‘European Sport Model’ according to organised athletes
12. Solidarity, partnerships and cooperation
With the 2022 Common Position Paper, EU Athletes reiterates that every athlete has a right to a sporting environment that is well governed and respect their rights as people, citizens and workers.
We also believe that sport can and should have a positive impact on the wider society, contributing to the promotion of fundamental values and fostering development.
Paulina Tomczyk, the General Secretary, said ‘Our Common Position Paper is an important tool that strengthen the voice of organised European athletes. Thanks to this document, we are able to advocate and defend the positions agreed by legitimate representatives of several thousands of athletes at the European and international level. We are committed to working together with governments, international organisations and sport organisations to achieve the goals set up in the document.’
2022 Common Position Paper
For further information contact Paulina Tomczyk, General Secretary paulinatomczyk@euathletes.org
Dec 16, 2022
EU Athletes takes note of the Opinion of Advocate General Rantos delivered in the case Case C-124/21 P International Skating Union vs European Commission.
This case, which EU Athletes has supported from the beginning, is of great importance for every athlete and player. At its heart are the rights of athletes to compete and to take advantage of their commercial opportunities, but also athletes’ access to justice and the right to be protected by EU laws as citizens and workers.
When analysing the case at stake, the reality of the sport industry must be duly considered. The sport sector is marked with a huge power imbalance between the athletes and the sport governing bodies such as the ISU. What is more, those organisations operate within an inherent risk of conflict of interest due to their dual function. It is crucial to set limits to the powers of monopolistic sport organisations in order to make sure that their actions are not detrimental to the market, the athletes, the fans and the sport itself.
In sports such as ice skating, the World Championships and the Olympic Games are the pinnacle of any athletes’ career. It is hard to imagine the athletes would risk a chance to participate and win medals at these events to compete in third party event. The sport organisations should not in any case be allowed to threaten athletes with severe sanctions with a clear goal to effectively prevent third parties from organising events.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the international sport arbitration in its current form, embodied by the forced CAS arbitration, including its impartiality and independence, is widely contested by athletes and their representatives worldwide.
While awaiting the decision of the Court, our thoughts go back to the very beginning of the case. It started with two brave speed skaters, Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt, who decided to fight the injustice they faced while practicing their sport – not for themselves, but for the future generations of athletes. We trust that the rights of athletes will prevail and that the opportunity that the decision in this case has to improve the sport sector will not be lost.
Statement
Contact Paulina Tomczyk, General Secretary paulinatomczyk@euathletes.org
Dec 14, 2022
This morning, the Dissemination Conference of PROLead project has taken place online, gathering over 170 participants from player associations, sport organisations, dual career providers, universities and other organisations. The meeting was an opportunity to share the experiences and results of the project, good practices and discuss the topic of leadership education and player development.
PROLead is a collaborative partnership project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and coordinated by European Elite Athletes Association (EU Athletes) with German Sport University Cologne and 8 player associations from different countries and sports (GPA, RPI, PPF, FNASS, UBE, TCA, AJFS, AJJV) as partners. Focusing on the topic of dual careers of athletes, the aim of the project was to enhance leadership skills of athletes, as well as volunteers and staff of player associations, by designing and implementing leadership courses at the European and national level.
The conference was kicked off by Tom Parsons, the CEO of Gaelic Players Association who shared his leadership journey in a keynote speech. Presentations of the PROLead project by Paulina Tomczyk, General Secretary of EU Athletes, and the project results: Desktop Research and Literature Review of Leadership Education for Athletes by Sebastian Uhrich from German Sport University Cologne and the European Leadership Course and Good Practice Guide by Eamonn Murphy from Gaelic Players Association followed.
The participants also had an opportunity to hear from two panels. First one, moderated by Karen Thorpe from Gaelic Players Association, focused on the experiences of player associations who designed and delivered National Leadership Courses for their players during the PROLead project. Alessandro Marzoli from Union des Basketteurs Europeens, Roose Hoogeboom from the Cyclists Alliance and Sergio Alonso from Asociacion de Jugadores de Futbol Sala shared insights into their work. In the second panel, two athletes (Lex Albrech and Robert Fultz) and two facilitators (Rossa O’Donnell and Francesca Di Sipio) engaged in a discussion about how to best teach and how to learn leadership, moderated by Pamela Gilpin from Rugby Players Ireland.
The Conference was concluded by Natalia Orive, the Vice President of EU Athletes, who emphasised the work that EU Athletes has been doing to strengthen the leadership within the player association movement, and the importance of helping athletes to realise their potential and strength as leaders.
Paulina Tomczyk, the Project Manager of PROLead, said ‘I am very proud of the work that the project team has completed over the last 3 years. We have managed to bring positive results for the athletes, partner organisations and other EU Athletes members. Today’s conference was also an opportunity to share and exchange with other player associations and various stakeholders, with an ultimate goal to best support athlete development and leadership education.’
Dec 1, 2022
As an affiliate of the World Players Association, EU Athletes supports today’s launch of “Establishing Effective Safe Sport Entities”, a concise guide on the key principles and essential functions of entities established to address and remedy the scourge of abuse in sport. Developed together with The Army of Survivors and the Sport & Rights Alliance, the guide provides sports bodies, governments, player associations, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders with a clear benchmark to ensure safe sport entities are able to prevent, investigate and respond to abuse in a manner that protects the safety, humanity, dignity and voice of impacted athletes.
Recent and continuing revelations of endemic, appalling and systemic abuse of athletes, often fostered by enabling cultures of sporting norms, nepotism, cover-up, and retaliation, have triggered a rush to establish safe sport initiatives. While potentially an important step , these processes commonly have significant shortcomings in purpose, culture, capacity, expertise, and transparency – often exacerbating harm for victims and survivors. Athletes turning to such entities report a lack of support and safety, an absence of trauma-informed approaches, ineffective reporting procedures, a legalistic and adversarial system of dispute resolution, and gaps when it comes to meaningful reparation and remedy.
Athlete trust – essential to the success of any safe sport initiative – has too often been destroyed by being forced into a system principally designed to protect the reputation of the sports body itself as opposed to identifying the justice needs of victims and systemic causal factors. Some sports bodies and governments have made the dangerous assumption that the already problematic sports integrity framework – designed around challenges such as anti-doping and match-fixing – is capable of addressing the particular challenge of abuse and the sporting environments which enable it.
Based on these experiences and coupled with the knowledge of experts in the field of trauma and abuse, the guide articulates six key principles that need to be embedded in the establishment and operations of safe sport entities to ensure that initiatives can deliver justice and support for survivors:
- Human Rights-Based
- Survivor-Centred
- Independency & Accountability
- Safety & Accessibility
- Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement
- Effective Remedy
In addition, the guide identifies five essential functions that such entities need to fulfil in order to respond to the needs of survivors and drive the necessary systemic change to achieve the stated safe sport purpose:
- Support
- Reporting
- Investigation
- Remedy
- Prevention
The released guidance comes at a critical point in time, as FIFA is looking at establishing an structure on a global and multisport level, and other national-level initiatives are underway in several countries under the guidance of national governments.
EU Athletes General Secretary Paulina Tomczyk said:
“Every case of athlete abuse is one too many. Sport organisations, governments and other stakeholders need to recognize their responsibility and deal with the systemic abuse in sport head on. Establishing safe sport entities is a step in the right direction, but their structure and functioning need to be fit for purpose. With the Safe Sport Entity Guide, the player association movement is showing its committed to being a part of the solution and making sure that the protection of rights and integrity of athletes is a non negotiable priority.”
World Players Executive Director Brendan Schwab said:
“Abuse in sport is continuing to destroy the lives of thousands of players around the world. We cannot wait for the system to come up with a solution, as the system is part of the problem. There is an urgent need to establish new and carefully designed structures that can deal with these cases and meet the individual, collective and systemic justice needs of victims, survivors and athletes generally. This guide provides clear criteria to ensure that those initiatives can be effective, safe, trauma-informed, survivor-centred, and deliver the systemic change needed.”
The Army of Survivors Executive Director Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran said:
“While we agree that current safeguarding and reporting systems need to be revisited in order to prioritize athlete safety and wellbeing, our hope is that new entities being created are taking the right measures into account. By utilizing this guide, organizations have principles and key functions that will aid them in creating transparent and survivor-centered processes.”
Sport & Rights Alliance Director Andrea Florence said:
“To move forward, it is important that we learn from mistakes in the past. For too long we have seen processes and systems built to protect sport and its reputation. We need to finally start to focus on those most affected by the current failures: the athletes and survivors. For the effectiveness of any safe sport institution, it is absolutely critical to be based on meaningful, nonexploitative, safe and trauma-informed consultation with survivors.”
Establishing Effective Safe Sport Entities – Guide
Original press release by World Players Association
