Aug 5, 2022
About Camille
Camille is the adviser to the president at Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnel (UNFP) and an EU Athletes board member since 2017. With educational background in law, Camille is working for UNFP since 2013.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
I would like to contribute, at my level, to the continuity of the mission of EU Athletes: to convey this open-mindedness necessary to the members, the associations and the people working for athletes in Europe. To promote this curiosity about what our colleagues are doing beyond our borders. Being interested in others often makes us realize that we are not alone. I would also like to continue to raise awareness of the strength of the collective. The actions initiated by EU Athletes do not replace the daily projects and struggles of the members, but complement them on another scale. This complementarity is essential.
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
Without a doubt, the ISU Case. The support that EU Athletes provided to the main people concerned – aware of the stakes for hundreds of athletes after them – marked a turning point in the visibility of the structure.
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
To constantly renew ourselves, to live with the time and not to stand still regardless of our achievements. Moreover, to adapt to our members and to maintain our proximity with them.
Jul 29, 2022
About Simon
Simon Keogh is the CEO of Rugby Players Ireland (RPI), the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland, and an EUA board member since 2013. Simon has a background as professional rugby player and is a qualified solicitor.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
I would like to be part of a movement that ensure players’ voices are heard and a respected stakeholder at the table. By facilitating knowledge sharing across player associations, we can learn from shared experiences and ensure that we are in the best possible position to provide meaningful representation.
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
I think the facilitation and implementation of existing Erasmus programmes and being part of the application process of potential new programmes. I have seen the direct benefit in Ireland of the ProMobility and ProLead initiatives and look forward to being part of future projects for the benefit of our athletes.
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
Recognition. I think regardless of how organised athletes are through their player association, their voice as valued stakeholders can slide down pecking order when other interests are at play.
Jul 22, 2022
About Sander
Sander is the chairman of NL Sporter and an EU Athletes board member since 2018. He is also a former professional basketball player.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
We are trying to give a voice to Athletes who are not able to or do not have the knowledge, time or experience to look out for their basic rights, whether individual or collective.
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
Of course everything we try to do is important and all the small things together will matter for the big picture. Every individual athlete whom we can help will hopefully be impacted in a positive way. From a collective (policy or regulatory) standpoint we will always try to influence policies where we can and by doing this, prevent wrongdoing towards our athletes.
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
The biggest challenge Athletes are facing is as always that organisations try to rule over the backs of athletes instead of including them in the decision making process. When decisions concern basic human rights, it is particularly important that the voice of the athletes is heard.
Jul 15, 2022
About Natalia
Natalia is the vice president of EUA since 2017 and the president of AJFSF, the Spanish Futsal Players Association for women. She is also a a member of the Board Directors in the Royal Spanish Football Federation and a professional futsal player since many years.
Q&A
1. What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
“I hope that we, EU Athletes, becomes bigger and will be increasingly recognized as a powerful association with an independent voice for athletes in Europe.”
2. In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
“The growth of members and athletes, the recognition of us in the European Commission as partners and an active voice in the representation of athletes. All the projects developed that we have done and all the associations we have helped and new ones to be created.”
3. What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
“The maintenance of our structure is very important and this is difficult because of the lack of recognition of the actual sport model. The Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath demonstrated how fundamental it is for athletes to have organisations like us to protect them and defend their rights as workers.”
Jul 12, 2022
On 7-8 July 2022, the Social Dialogue in Europe for Professional (SDE Pro) Sports project kick-off meeting took place in the offices of COSMOS (Association of Sport Employers in France) in Paris, France. SDE Pro Sports is a 2-year project co-funded by the EU that will run under the Support for Social Dialogue programme. It aims to contribute to the development of social dialogue between employers and employees in professional sport in the EU.
The partners to the project are EU Athletes, the European Association of Sport Employers (EASE) and the German Sport University of Cologne.
At the kick-off meeting, there first was a presentation of the SDE Pro Sports project and its background. The participants also discussed the methodology, advancement and publicization of the upcoming mapping phase of national collective agreements in professional sports in Europe. A number of members of EU Athletes and EASE were invited to share and compare their experiences on social dialogue in their respective countries, as well as reflect on a common ground for social dialogue in Europe. The members invited by EU Athletes were AJFS (Spain), AJFSF (Spain), GIBA (Italy), LI (Iceland), RPI (Ireland), and SSS (Slovenia).
More information about this new project is available here.
