On 15 and 16th of February 2023, the first project meeting of the SOPROS project took place on the campus of the project coordinator – German Sport University in Cologne. It is an Erasmus+ project co-funded by the European Union. The aim of the SOPROS project is to promote integrity and values in sports by assessing, evaluating and implementing athletes’ social protection in Olympic sports.
The SOPROS project is a three-year project ending in December 2025. It is a continuation of the work on the previous Erasmus+ EMPLOYS project on athletes’ social protection that was recently finished in December 2022. The final report from EMPLOYS project ‘Good Governance in the Employment Relations of Athletes in Olympic Sports in Europe: Understanding – Evaluating – Improving’ is published here.
The project consortium involves both academic partners and policy partners, including EU Athletes, which ensures a balanced exchange of knowledge and expertise. Close cooperation of academic and policy partners as well as relevant stakeholders is ensured at every stage of the project. German Sport University Cologne is a coordinator of the project. University of Rijeka (Croatia), Universidade Europeia (Portugal), Edge Hill University (Great Britain), Institute for Sport Governance (Poland) are academic partners. Apart from EU Athletes, European Olympic Academies, and European Association of Sport Employers are policy partners of the project. International Labour Organization is an associated partner of the project.
The SOPROS project intends to collect unique data about athletes’ social protection in Olympic sports by developing practicable Self-Assessment Tools for athletes, sport governing bodies and public authorities. The collected data will be then analysed and presented in an Evaluation report. Afterwards, a process of negotiations in Olympic elite sports will be piloted to understand its potential benefits and challenges. During the project two rounds of National workshops will be hosted in several European countries as well as one EU-Level Multi-Stakeholder Workshop and three public Conferences.
Progress and important updates on Erasmus+ SOPROS project will be shared on the EU Athletes webpage throughout the duration of the project.
