As delivered

Mme President,
President of Tatarstan,
Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation,
Ministers,
Honourable participants,

It is a pleasure to be here in Kazan in my capacity as Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, responsible for Sport and Member of the Foundation Board of the WADA.

Dear friends,

All of us in this room today share an understanding about the value of sport.

We know that when we enable our children to participate, we are teaching them the life skills that will stand them in good stead: adhering rules, showing respect, working in teams – and, critically, having self-confidence and self-worth.

Later in life, we know that the children who become elite athletes elevate those values further, taking them on to the national stage – and into the international arena. 

Here, bridges are built, differences smoothed and excellence celebrated together.

But sport, as we know, is not immune to difficulties and tensions.

The multi-billion business behind the manipulation of sports competitions represents a major threat to sport’s integrity.

Where good governance is lacking, there is an increased risk of participants cheating and of participants being cheated by bad practice including discrimination.

And we must also be conscious that the risks organisers of major sport events must address are complex and ever-evolving.

Over the last four decades, the Council of Europe has worked to promote sport’s positive values, to open up participation and to fight the threats it faces at the local, national and international levels.

This is in line with our mission to uphold democracy, human rights and – critically – the rule of law.

As the challenges have increased over that time, so too has our determination and activism.

Ten years ago, we took a significant step forward. 

The Council of Europe established EPAS, an inclusive platform for co-operation between public authorities and sports organisations, not just among our member states but open to non-European countries too. 

This is a forum in which to discuss emerging issues and an incubator in which to bring on new remedies. 

The platform offers a wealth of information, guidance and practical tools for sports authorities and sports organisations to promote ethical, inclusive and safe activities.

It is open to those who share our values and vision.

Similarly, we have spearheaded specific and far-reaching multilateral conventions, which are designed to tackle the major sporting challenges of the modern age.

The manipulation of sports competitions is one such challenge.

We all know that the unpredictability of a sporting event is what makes a true contest: that this is the very essence of sport. 

But organised crime and individual criminals look for ways to distort the outcome of those events, whether by bribing referees or even the athletes themselves.

Where this happens, criminal networks make money, and sport suffers.

Integrity is undermined, sporting organisations are harmed, and sport’s wider public benefit is lost as fans lose trust and turn away.

That is why the Council of Europe’s 2014 Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions – our “match-fixing convention” – commits members to maintain high standards and equips them with the advice and support that they need to do so.

UNESCO played a vital, supportive role in the convention negotiations and the follow-up process, for which we are grateful, and I look forward to the conclusions of MINEPS VI inviting all countries to join our efforts by implementing this measure.

Because our efforts to stop match-fixing grow stronger with every member who joins the fight.

The use of performance-enhancing drugs – or doping – similarly distorts sporting outcomes and undermines public trust.

We have all heard of the high-profile cases that have emerged in recent years across a whole range of sports.

Again, international efforts are required to tackle this scourge.

The Council of Europe’s Anti-Doping Convention was the first international legally binding agreement in this area.

It paved the way towards the creation of the World Anti Doping Agency and the UNESCO Convention.

Today, we are focused on a two-pronged strategy: enhancing monitoring compliance by state parties, and providing targeted assistance to those countries that want to improve anti-doping policy and practice.

The Russian Federation is a case in point.

We are working here with the Ministry of Sport to help implement our tailor-made Anti-Doping Action Plan, including new education programmes and the application of strong, transparent and independent disciplinary procedures.

We are also contributing to the reorganisation of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, RUSADA, which we hope will soon regain its compliance status.

And we also like to work with our Russian partners to develop a new, tailor-made curriculum on rights and obligations in sport, so that high quality education and training to combat doping is made accessible to all: athletes, coaches, legal professionals and more. 

This pilot initiative might then be rolled out beyond Russia too.

But corruption’s corrosive effects exist off the sports field as well as on it.

You have read the stories: kickbacks, rigged bids, vote-buying in bidding processes.

Good governance is key to closing down the opportunities for these kinds of crime.

So I am pleased to say that in this area too nations and organisations are coming together to make progress.

Last year, the Council of Europe’s Sports Ministers met in Budapest where they proposed a framework for co-operation between states, international organisations and the international sports movement to fight corruption at the international level.

A working group met just three weeks ago, to give shape to this vision of an “International Partnership against Corruption in Sport” and take concrete steps.

But the implementation of good governance needs to happen at every level – local, national and international.

That is why our ministerial Conference also advocated measures that would allow governments or other authorities to implement best practice measures at the member state level.

And why in 2018 and 2019 we will support states to reach their UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in areas that include both sport and the fight against violence, discrimination and corruption.

Indeed, good governance requires measures that tackle discrimination per se, with gender mainstreaming as a case in point.

In 2016, the Council of Europe joined forces with the EU, the IOC and other key partners to develop a set of gender equality indicators in sport.

A data collection campaign was launched to gather information in five strategic areas: women in leadership positions; female coaches; gender-based violence; gender stereotypes in the media; and participation in sport.

We want to scale up this effort and warmly encourage you to use these indicators to assess the success of your own gender equality policies and initiatives.

Finally, I want to say a few words about safety and security at sporting events.

One single tragedy is one tragedy too many, and while we can never eliminate the possibility of accidents, fires, or malpractice, we can and must maintain our efforts to minimise the risks. 

The 2016 Council of Europe Convention on the Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events does just that. By adopting the Convention in the DUMA a few days ago, the Russian Federation is now on the final steps to be able to ratify it in time for the FIFA football games of 2018.

It establishes institutional co-operation among all relevant stakeholders in the organisation of sports events.

This has included training for safety officers before the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine, and will include more for Euro 2020.

And the convention will soon replace the old European Convention on Spectator Violence that was adopted in 1985 immediately after the Heysel tragedy and every country will have the opportunity to join it and benefit from its set of highly recognised, universally valid standards.

This is just as well, as it will be the only legally binding international instrument that addresses this subject.

It is therefore unsurprising that more and more countries from America and Asia are participating in the work and we welcome them.

Ladies and gentlemen, sport should be ethical, inclusive and safe – from the level of the local amateur up to the level of the international competitor.

The Council of Europe is using its decades of experience in this field to bring countries together in pursuit of that end.

Yes, EPAS and our conventions are made in Europe, but they are open to the wider world too.

Through a reinforced co-operation with UNESCO, we can extend the benefits of these standards and our monitoring and assistance activities too.

We want to facilitate co-operation among the wider family of nations, so that people around the world can have faith in the sports they watch, play and love.

This is why the Council of Europe is ready to play an active role in implementing the outcomes on the integrity of sport that will come from this MINEPS conference on the topic of integrity of sport.

We share the same goals, we inherit the same responsibility and the time to act is now.