SOPROS Workshop & Commissioner Micallef Meeting

SOPROS Workshop & Commissioner Micallef Meeting

Jul 2, 2025

Last week, representatives of the European Athletes and Players Association (EAPA) were in Brussels for a visit that included a meeting with Commissioner Glenn Micallef, the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport.

Led by EAPA President Natalia Orive Siviter, General Secretary Paulina Tomczyk, and EAPA Executive Board Member Alessandro Marzoli, EAPA were in Belgium to bring the voice of athlete and player associations into key discussions through workshops facilitated by the SOPROS project which aims to assess, evaluate, and implement athletes’ social protection in Olympic sports.

The meeting with Commissioner Micallef took place on the second day of the visit to Belgium and marked a significant step forward in recognising athletes not only as performers, but as young citizens with rights, responsibilities, and a rightful place in shaping the systems that govern them.

In a focused discussion, EAPA highlighted the real-world challenges many athletes face and which are often obscured by Olympic medals and headlines. The delegation shared concrete examples from their work, drawing attention to critical gaps in maternity protection and mental health support.

Commissioner Micallef reassured the delegation that the protection of athletes’ rights is a key part of his mandate, and the welfare of all athletes will remain central to his work. He emphasised that sport must reflect the same values that Europe upholds in society, and made it clear that athletes deserve greater freedom, voice, and agency in shaping their futures.

The importance of social dialogue in achieving these goals emerged as a central theme. Discussions underscored the urgent need to strengthen athlete representation across all Olympic sports and to establish formal mechanisms that enable athletes to engage meaningfully with employers, federations, and public authorities.

The engagement with the Commissioner coincided with EAPA’s continued participation with the SOPROS project. The workshop convened high-level representatives from the European Commission (including Sport, Social Security, and Social Dialogue Units), the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the EU Presidency trio (Poland, Denmark, Cyprus), European federations, and academic and policy experts.

credit: European Olympic Academies

Rooted in the findings of the Erasmus+ EMPLOYS project, SOPROS addresses the ongoing reality that many Olympic athletes lack consistent or enforceable social protections. From inadequate healthcare coverage to unclear pension entitlements and ad-hoc maternity support, the gaps are both significant and systemic.

At EAPA, we understand that policy change alone isn’t enough. Representation matters. Athlete and player associations are essential to turning policy into protection. Our meeting with Commissioner Micallef affirmed that the European Commission not only recognises this truth, but is ready to support it.

 

Mark and Niels’ victory over ISU at the European Commission

Mark and Niels’ victory over ISU at the European Commission

Dec 11, 2017

EU Athletes welcomes the decision of the European Commission that International Skating Union (ISU) rules imposing severe penalties on athletes participating in unauthorized speed skating competitions are in breach of EU antitrust law. As a consequence, the ISU must now change these rules.

This landmark ruling is a result of a courageous decision of two Dutch speed skaters, Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt to challenge their federation’s (ISU) eligibility rules. The decision, announced on Friday the 8th of December, confirms that the ISU abused its dominant market position by imposing unfair and disproportionately punitive rules in order to enable the ISU to pursue its own commercial interests to the detriment of athletes and organizers of competing events.

EU Athletes has been supporting Mark and Niels through the #chancetocompete campaign and by representing the interest of all the European athletes that are or might be affected by similar rules imposed by their sport governing bodies.

We would like to congratulate and thank Mark and Niels for taking this difficult journey which now can significantly improve the situation of athletes around the World. Congratulations also to Ben Van Rompuy and his team for their impressive and successful legal work and representation.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the European Commission and Commissioner Margrethe Vestager for taking on this important case and rendering a wise decision, showing the sport governing bodies that they are not above the law.

For Jean-François Reymond, the General Secretary of EU Athletes: “We are extremely happy with this decision. The Olympic movement’s attempts to put political pressure on the Commission have not unduly affected the outcome of the hearing. This landmark ruling shows that the specificity of sport cannot be used as an excuse to gain commercial benefit at the expense of athletes”.

Brendon Batson OBE, the President of EU Athletes, added: “Sport governing must operate within the European legal framework and we are pleased that the European Commission has taken this important step. We hope that the sport organizations will now recognize that they cannot unilaterally decide on athletes’ situation and that there is an urgent need for them to engage in a partnership with independent athlete organizations.”

ESSDC Meeting in Brussels

ESSDC Meeting in Brussels

Jun 1, 2017

A Working Group meeting of European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Sport and Active Leisure has taken place in Brussels on the 29th of May 2017. The discussions were mainly focused on the evaluation of the Social Dialogue project concluded this year, fix-term contracts in the sport sector and the Work Plan for Sport 2017-2020 that has been recently adopted by the Council.

The participants have also been informed about the decision of the Austrian court in the case of Vanessa Sahinovic, who after being hit by the bus during European Games in Baku in 2015 became paralyzed. The court, analysing her status as a member of the national team in order to analyze the social security regime, has found that, even without the employment contract and salary, it should be assimilated with labour relation. It is an important development regarding the denial of worker’s status and rights to many athletes in Europe.

The plenary ESSDC meeting will take place in Brussels on the 8th of November 2017.

#EUSportIntegrityDay

#EUSportIntegrityDay

Apr 13, 2017

Like every year on the 15th of April, this Saturday we will be showing our commitment to tackle match fixing in sport with the #EUSportIntegrityDay.

Match-fixing is widely regarded as one of the major threats to sport. It undermines the values of sport such as integrity, fair play, respect for others and have a negative impact on the life of people involved in sport.

Tackling match-fixing requires strong and organised cooperation between the different stakeholders (sports organisations, police, governments, supporters, NGO’s, coaches, athletes themselves and others).

If this issue is not properly addressed, organized sport will lose its credibility and support from fans.

This is why #EUSportIntegrityDay is open to everyone who is committed to figh match fixing. It is designed to:

– raise awareness amongst stakeholder and everyone who loves sport

– reinforce the key education messages about sports betting integrity

– showcase the good practice in the fight against match fixing demonstrate a public commitment to prevent match fixing harming our sports

TO FIND OUT MORE VISIT: www.eusportintegrityday.eu

European Social Dialogue Project Plenary

European Social Dialogue Project Plenary

Mar 24, 2017

Plenary meeting of the project “Supporting the test phase of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for sport and active leisure”, co-financed by the European Union and coordinated by UNI Europa has taken place in Berlin on 23-24th of March. This event has gathered around 50 participants from 19 different member states and as an opportunity to discuss the results of the project and the future of social dialogue in sport in Europe. EU Athletes was activelly involved in the project and two round tables (basketball and rugby) organized in the professional sport subsector.