Protecting the integrity of sport has been one of the main objectives of the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) since its creation in 2007.
The annual meeting of the EPAS Statutory Committee was held on 4 December 2023 in Strasbourg, followed by an extended session open to representatives from non-EPAS member states. The session highlighted the work of EPAS, in particular in the area of sport integrity, as defined by the European Sports Charter.
The session was opened by H.E. Gabriel Revel, Permanent Representative of Monaco to the Council of Europe and Chair of the Statutory Committee, and Jeroen Schokkenbroek, Director of Anti-Discrimination at the Council of Europe.
The vital role of sportspeople and professionals in ensuring sport integrity was presented and debated by two leading professionals in the field: André Villas-Boas, a professional football manager and coach from Portugal, with extensive international experience having managed teams including Chelsea and Marseille; he focused on the importance of good governance in football and also highlighted the work of Portugal in the area of sport governance; Mariam Bolkvadze, a professional tennis player from Georgia, spoke about the current state of play pertaining to gender equality in tennis.
Specific tools to promote sport integrity were at the centre of the second panel. The International Partnership Against Corruption in Sport (IPACS), which counts the Council of Europe among its founders, was presented by Pâquerette Girard Zappelli, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Network of Magistrates and Prosecutors Responsible for Sports (MARS Network) was presented by its Chair, Jean-Yves Lourgouilloux, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Judicial Court of Marseille.
The Statutory Committee is composed of representatives to the Committee of Ministers of the member states of the Council of Europe which are members of EPAS, and of representatives specifically designated by states which are not Council of Europe members but which are party to EPAS. Each year, it adopts the budget on expenditure relating to the implementation of the programme of activities.
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