On 15 and 16 June 2021, the EPAS Governing Board and Consultative Committee held their annual joint meeting online to discuss the EPAS programme of activities amongst other topics, ranging from the impact of COVID-19 on sport activities, to child safeguarding, closed sports leagues and the revision of the European Sports Charter.
The EPAS Governing Board elected its new Bureau. Alexandre Husting (Luxembourg) was re-elected as Chair and Andrea Carletti (Italy) was elected Vice-Chair. Alexey Morozov (Russian Federation), François Tricarico (Belgium) and Viktoria Slavkova (Bulgaria) were reelected for Regions 1, 2 and 4 respectively. Kolë Gjeloshaj (ISF) and Tone Jagodic (EOC) were reelected to represent the Consultative Committee.
The meeting approved the 4th revised version of the European Sports Charter, thus concluding an ambitious and intense process initiated by the 15th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for sport. The final draft will be transmitted to the Committee of Ministers for consideration and possible adoption in autumn of this year. The Governing Board also outlined the framework to support and monitor the implementation of the Charter at national level and recognised its strategic dimension for EPAS activities. Also on the agenda of the meeting was the presentation of the IPACS benchmark on good governance in sport and as mentioned discussions on the implementation of the Start to Talk initiative and the joint project Child Safeguarding in Sport (CSiS). The members also discussed the conclusions resulting from the first Forum on Sport and Human Rights, which took place on 1 June 2021.
Besides, the Secretariat presented a study conducted in 2020 on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sport . The results were well received by the members, who invited EPAS to consider further research.
On both 15 and 16 June, exchanges of views were held with the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge. In particular, he presented his priorities in the field of sport for the next four years:
- To promote values-based sport;
- To put the protection of human rights and the fight against corruption high on the agenda of governments and the sport movement and,
- To reaffirm the role of the Council of Europe as a key partner working with bodies including, the IOC, FIFA, UEFA, Interpol, UNESCO etc. in addressing European sports issues.
"The Council of Europe is counting on the commitment and expertise of EPAS, through its work in monitoring and supporting the implementation of the revised European Sports Charter, to ensure that sport reflects the values of our organisation," said Mr Berge.
Looking ahead to upcoming activities, the Governing Board agreed that EPAS will work on the implementation of the Recommendation on Extreme Martial Arts and Combat Activities, adopted by the Committee of Ministers in March 2021. It also decided to hold the 17th Ministerial conference in 2022 in Turkey.
One of the next key EPAS upcoming events will be the Diversity Conference which will be held in hybrid form on Monday 20 September. The conference is entitled: Protecting and promoting the rights of intersex and transgender athletes in sport competitions”.
@CoE_Sports, 