Jul 8, 2022
About Marc
Marc is the national responsible for United Athletes, the only trade union in Belgium that unites athletes. He is a new EUA board member as of 2022.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
“We should know each other better, who’s who, and how we can support each other in the common challenges.”
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
“Since I was just recently elected as board member it’s hard to reflect on my tenure but I’m really impressed with the work accomplished in the recent years.”
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
“Even with salaries going down and pressure to perform up, it’s becoming harder to convince athletes to join a union. Athletes are under great pressure from management and individuality often takes precedence over the strong together.”
Jul 5, 2022
On 27-30 June, EU Athletes attended the 2022 edition of the Play the Game conference in Odense, Denmark. This event brought together various stakeholders in sport to discuss, debate, and find solutions to topical issues and threats facing international sport. Is there a cure for sport? was the theme of Play the Game 2022, which also marked the 25th anniversary of the organisation and its mission to promote democracy, transparency, and freedom of expression in the world of sport.
“Personally, I suffered from the illusion that as soon as the problems of corruption, doping, and abuse were brought into the public domain, someone would start tackling them and they would soon dwindle. Well, here we are, 25 years later, much richer in experience and somewhat poorer in illusions,” Jens Sejer Andersen, international director of Play the Game, in his opening speech.
Issues that were addressed at the 2022 edition of the conference include the rise in athlete activism, the urgent reform of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the loss of faith in the anti-doping system after the Russian doping scandal. The panels outlined below were also of particular relevance to EU Athletes.
European Model of Sport – “broken beyond repair”
EU Athletes member Dejan Stefanović, the President of SSS, participated in the panel European Model of Sport: A pyramid, a church, or a world of variety? where the pros and cons of organising sport in a pyramid structure was discussed. There, he stressed that the traditional European Sports Model is “broken beyond repair”. The views of Dejan go in line with the position of EU Athletes, as most recently expressed in EU Athletes Response to the Lobby for a ‘European Sport Model’.
“Athletes’ unions are weak because the European model denies them representation. The revenue distribution systems that are supposed to justify the model are ineffective. In the guise of supporting traditional values, the European model is protecting economic interests and monopolies.” – Dejan Stefanović, President of SSS.
Proposal for independent sports integrity body
Viola von Cramon Taubadel, a German member of the European Parliament for the Green Party, informed the conference about an upcoming proposal from the Green Party bloc to set up a World Anti-Corruption Agency. She expressed criticism towards WADA in this regard and emphasized that we need to start from scratch in building a new independent foundation, based on input from various independent stakeholders.
“We need independent athlete representatives like EU Athletes” – Viola von Cramon Taubadel, MEP Greens/EFA
Photos: Thomas Søndergaard/Play the Game
Jul 1, 2022
About Brendon
Brendon Batson is the president of EU Athletes since 2017. As a former professional football player, Brendon is the Chair of Professional Players Federation (PPF).
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
“To encourage the growth and development of player associations.”
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
“It is difficult to highlight one particular thing but what I am pleased about is that we now have a strong, diverse and working board addressing a range of issues on behalf of our members.”
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
“To remain relevant to modern day athletes and to continue to be a strong voice in championing the rights of athletes.”
Jun 27, 2022
EU Athletes is a partner to ‘Strengthening Athlete Power in Sport’ (SAPIS), a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. SAPIS strives to strengthen athletes’ influence and representation in sport through increasing the democratisation of sports governance and management. This is important considering that athletes are often not allowed to participate effectively in decision-making processes within their own sport.
The project, which runs from 1st of January 2020 until 31st of December 2023, is coordinated by Play the Game. Project partners include both athlete representatives and academic researchers coming from the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Wales, and Slovenia.
When asked about EU Athletes expectations on SAPIS back in 2020, Paulina Tomczyk, Secretary General of EU Athletes, expressed:
“The importance of athlete representation in sports governance cannot be overstated. By working in partnership with athlete organisations, sports bodies can assure that the rights and interests of key stakeholders are respected so sport is being developed in a way that is beneficial for athletes and all involved. I believe the SAPIS project can help athletes realise the potential of their collective power to stand up for their rights and improve sports governance.”
On 26th of June, the SAPIS steering group met in Odense, Denmark, for a 7th meeting. The steering group meeting was arranged in connection with Play the Game 2022. During the meeting, the steering group looked over the progress of the project and discussed the outputs that are still to be developed. At current, the project partners are writing a report on a survey conducted of representative organisations for athletes. A session about SAPIS will also be held at said Play the Game conference.
More information about SAPIS is available here.
Jun 24, 2022
About Joachim
Joachim Walltin is the General Secretary of FIFPRO Division Europe. Prior to taking up this role, the former professional football player was the president of Norwegian player association NISO for 10 years. Joachim has been on the EUA board since 2021.
Q&A
What are you trying to achieve as a Board member of EU Athletes?
“I have a slightly different role than most of the other board members, as I am here representing FIFPRO as the GS of Division Europe. I am here to follow up on the cooperation between our respective organisations, which is important to protect the rights of football players and other athletes in Europe. With my background from NISO, the Norwegian multisport union, I am used to working with other sports and I still have a heart for all athletes and my approach is to create mutual benefits from such a collaboration.”
Why do you think cooperation between FIFPRO and EU Athletes is important?
“FIFPRO and EUA have a joint interest in several areas and for me as the General Secretary of FIFPRO Division Europe, it´s important that we build European alliances. I think we should align our work where possible and collaborate with the objective to strengthen both organisations. We have to continue promoting and protecting the athletes as workers and ensure their rights are being recognised and respected.”
In your view, what has been the most important achievement of EU Athletes during your time on the Board?
“I haven’t been too long in the Board, but I must say that what EUA has done together with the speed skaters in the ISU case is a very important job and achievement, which deserves a lot of recognition.”
What is in your opinion the biggest challenge that player associations are facing in 2022?
“From my experience, the player associations face quite different challenges, depending on the domestic conditions and recognition and work with other stakeholders. We see that way too few have managed to conclude Collective Bargaining Agreements and in some countries there is even a lack of Standard Employment Contracts, which should be mandatory to prevent problems and improve the professionalisation in all sports.”
