NEWS

On June 23, 2026, Olympic and Paralympic Day, Mr. Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport of the European Commission hosted the #Be Active EU Sport Awards 2026 Ceremony at Bozar in Brussels, Belgium. Mrs. Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture at the European Commission, offered the opening speech, highlighting that this important event recognizes the significance of projects and individuals committed to sport across Europe.

Then, Mr. Micalef discussed the principles and power of the European Sport Model with Mrs. Athena Michaelidou, Cypriot Minister of Education, Sport and Youth, who recently hosted the EU Sport Forum under the Cypriot Presidency of the Union.

In 2026, the Award encompassed five categories: Across Generations, Inclusion, Peace, Physical Activity, and Volunteering. From the 279 applications, an independent jury selected three finalists for each category. Information on the 15 finalists is available at https://sport.ec.europa.eu/whats-new/news/beactive-eu-sport-awards-first-ever-finalists-announced

During the event, the #Be Active EU Sport Awards 2026 were attributed to:

– Physical Activity category: Fit Senior programme of the Municipality of Oeiras (POR);
– Inclusion category: Planinec initiative of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (SLO);
– Volunteering category: Flow & Learn programme of the United Way Hungary (HUN);

– Across Generations category: Drava Cross League of the Running Club Marathon 95 Varaždin (CRO);

– Peace category: Run4Unity of the New Humanity International Association (ITA).

Mr. Djibril Diop and Mr. Gilles Coudoro provided an artistic hip pop and breakdance performance, whereas Sebastien Bellin, a professional basketball player and survivor of the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks, testified how sport can help individuals overcoming major personal hardship.

The video of the event is available at https://player.clevercast.com/?account_id=AkN3yR&item_id=W9dMpj

As an official partner of the European Week of Sport and the #BeActive Campaign, EAS was represented by its President (Laura Capranica) and Honorary Treasurer (Mojca Doupona), who had the opportunity to meet project partners and representatives of the European Commission and the Executive Agency EACEA to share information on actual and future actions and strategic opportunities in the field of sport.