April 2026
An in-person meeting of the EAS Executive Board took place in Riga on April, 23, 2026.
During the session, President Laura Capranica presented the 2025 activity report, outlining the main achievements and initiatives carried out over the past year. Secretary Ole Keldorf presented the EAS amended Statute, in accordance with applicable legislation. At the same meeting, Treasurer Mojca Doupona delivered the 2025 financial report, providing an overview of the organization’s financial management and stability. All these documents were carefully reviewed by the Board members and were unanimously approved, reflecting strong agreement on the work accomplished.
The Board also discussed the contribution of EAS to the development of ongoing Erasmus+ Sport Collaborative Partnerships, emphasizing their role and impact. In addition, the possibility of participating in the current call for proposals under the program was considered.
Proposals for upcoming EAS Cafés were presented and discussed, with the next event scheduled on May 18th.
Reports from the committees were also presented by Antonio Figueiredo (Scientific Committee), Ole Keldorf (NewGen Committee), and Laura Capranica (Communication Committee), highlighting the work carried out in their respective areas.
A preliminary draft of the program for the upcoming EAS Conference to be held in Oulu on October 5-7, 2026 was introduced by Risto Keskitalo, with further input provided by the Board members.
Finally, regarding the upcoming elections for the presidency and the Executive Board, it was agreed that the call for candidates will be open in second half of May.
The Members of the Executive Board were thankful to Ilvis Abelkalns (member of the EAS Board) for organizing and hosting the meeting at the University of Latvia.
On April 15 and 16, 2026, EAS was invited to attend the annual EU Sport Forum “Values, Inclusion, and Wellbeing” organized by the European Commission in cooperation with the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth in Phapos, Cyprus.
Mr. Normunds Popens ‐ Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC) of the European Commission, and Mr. Marios Panayides ‐ Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth of Cyprus, welcomed delegated of leading sport organisations, sport federations, European networks, and policymakers to the two-day event encompassing keynote speeches, plenary and parallel sessions, and panel discussions on relevant issues of the European Sport Model.
Mrs. Paola Ottomano, Team Leader, Sport Unit of the European Commission, and Mr. Luciano Di Fonzo, Deputy Head of Erasmus Mundus and Sport Unit of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), informed on the strategic vision for sport in Europe, including the results of the public consultation on the European Sport Model.
The thematic discussion of the first day of the event regarded: Removing barriers to women’s sporting success; Rewarding talent in sport: boosting solidarity and competitive balance; Not just medals, rethinking sport for lifelong wellbeing; The future of the European Week of Sport; The future priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council; Uniting the Mediterranean through sport; Mental health in sport: pressure and resilience; Knowledge sharing sessions on good practices from Cyprus; Peer learning activities in Bulgaria and Slovenia; and The project GAIIN from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
On the second day, Mr. Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, presented his personal contribution to key priorities and activities of the European Commission in the field of sport, highlighting the crucial role of physical literacy for lifelong active behaviours and health. This issue was further emphasized during the round table Move more, live better: why movement matters at every age with high-level speakers and contributors. The last two sessions were dedicated to the athletes’ experiences into sport governance roles, and the integrity and investment for the future of European basketball. Final remarks were provided by Mr. Georg Häusler, Director of Culture, Creativity and Sport of the European Commission. Further information and Recordings of the 2026 EU Sport Forum will be available at sport.ec.europa.eu.
During the event, EAS and EUSA also disseminated information on the ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership “Discovering University Sport and Supporting Dual Career” (DiscoverU), which aims to encourage innovative community engagement in physical activity and healthy lifestyles among university students.
The DiscoverU project is funded by the European Union coordinated by EUSA. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
The Compath Project meeting we held on 17th September in Zagreb, with the participation of all project partners, was completed. The meeting started with an opening speech by Renato Vuk on behalf of PESG. Vuk briefly mentioned the work done so far in the project and outlined the general flow of the meeting and the topics to be discussed. Following this, Håkon Ege from COLIN introduced the gamification-based digital “Competence Hub” platform, which will be developed within the scope of Work Package 3, aimed at sports innovation. Ege explained that this platform is designed to foster and share innovative approaches in the world of sports. Access to the platform will be provided via https://portal.sportsinnovationshub.com, and after registering, all participants had the opportunity to explore its features and usage details. During this review, Resul Erhan, the representative of MOBAD, gave a comprehensive presentation about the technical details of the platform, providing information on its infrastructure and technical operation. Additionally, Ege mentioned that the platform would be ready for testing within a week, and partners would be able to provide feedback on it.
The second session of the meeting continued with a detailed review of the tasks within Work Package 4. In this session, Håkon Ege from COLIN gave a presentation about the tasks, roles, responsibilities, and the contributions of project partners under this work package. The distribution of modules among project partners was also clarified during this presentation. Each module was distributed according to the expertise of the project partners, and the roles and responsibilities of each partner were detailed. These modules will be added to the project’s digital learning platform to create educational content focused on sports innovation.
In addition, various local and international events under Work Package 4 were outlined in the second session. Under this work package, it was planned to organize local training seminars for trainers, teachers, and experts in five countries (Norway, Poland, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden). Guidelines, checklists, and feedback forms to be used in these seminars were presented by Ege to all partners. It was also agreed that local thematic workshops would be organized for student-athletes in these five countries, with a deadline for completion set for October 20, 2024.
Another important event discussed was the international workshop to be held in Oslo. This workshop, scheduled for October 28-29, 2024, will host 12 young participants. Each project partner will be responsible for sending a designated number of participants to this international event.
The topic of testing the digital platform was also addressed. It was decided that the platform would be tested by a total of 120 young athletes from eight countries, with 15 participants from each country taking part in the digital learning activities. This testing phase was considered a critical step in terms of platform functionality and user experience. Finally, community-building activities were planned, with six hybrid (physical/digital) meetings and various webinars to be organized throughout the project. These events aim to raise awareness in the field of sports innovation and reach a wider audience.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Dear friends of Dual Career,
On behalf of the EAS Executive Committee, I inform you that the 15th EAS Virtual Cafè on “From talent identification to talent support” will be held on Monday March 31, 2024 (from 13:00 CET).
13:00 Welcome – Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, University of Coimbra
13:10 Prof. Challenges and opportunities in talent recognition – Prof, Zoran Milanovic, University of Nis, Serbia
13:25 The holistic approach to talent support in Denmark – Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Denmark
13:40 The talent journey: Guidelines for coaches, parents, teachers – Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, University of Nis, Serbia
13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks
Speakers:
Prof. Zoran Milanovic Associate Professor at the Sports and Physical Education Faculty of the University of Niš, Serbia, he has published more than 100 papers in international journal. He is a member of International Network of Sport and Health Science (INSHS)
Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, Coach educator at the Danish Football Association, Member Advisory Board for Youth Elite in the Danish FE. Author and Editor of several articles and books and talent development.
Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, Vice Dean for Science and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Nis, expert of designing research process, with more than 40 scientific prublications. Coordinator of the “FIND ME” and Member of the “TALENT” ERASMUS+Sport projects
You can join the Zoom Meeting at
Moderator
Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, expert of youth training and talent identification and development with an emphasis on soccer.
On March 18, 2025, the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) invited European sports stakeholders at the European Parliament to contribute to a consultative meeting on the role of the EU policies in shaping the European Sport Model.
Member of the European Parliament Bogdan Zdrojewski, Vice-Chair of the CULT Committee and rapporteur of the initiative, welcomed the participants, followed by presentation by Iwona Lotysz (Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union) Giorgio Guazzugli-Marini (Acting Head of Sport Unit at the European Commission), and Roberto Pella, (European Committee of the Regions, rapporteur of the opinion on “Building a values-based, bottom-up European sports model: a vehicle for encouraging inclusion and social wellbeing among young Europeans).
Overall, 40 stakeholders participated in the event, with 20 of them providing short speeches in contribution to the European sports policies. Laura Capranica, EAS President, highlighted the importance of European ERASMUS+Sport fundings for cooperative partnerships focused on the sportspersons’ rights to education in and through sports. She highlighted that whilst Europe has been considered a good model and inspiration for countries beyond Europe (recently, a dual career association has been established in Brazil following the EAS example), the tremendous outcomes of the ERASMUS+Sport projects do not always reach the target population at large. To bridge such a gap and to have a positive impact especially in the future generations of athletes, coaches, physical trainers, referees, sports managers, sports scholars, and volunteers, President Capranica suggested the adoption of European policies urging the sport academic institutions and the sport bodies to include relevant European priorities (such as dual career, sport inclusion, sport integrity, safeguarding, etc) in their educational courses.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu