NEWS

In being a platform for intergovernmental co-operation between its Member States (i.e., Governing Board) and sports actors (i.e., Consultative Committee), the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe aims to contribute to ensure good governance, ethical and inclusive sport. On June 7-8, 2023 in Strasbourg (France), President Laura Capranica had the opportunity to participate in the annual meeting of the Consultative Committee, to present the past and present EAS activities in relation to the aims and recommendations of the revised European Sport Charter (https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/revision-esc/), to elect the President and a new Member of the Consultative Committee Bureau, and to participate in the discussion during the meetings of the EPAS Governing Board.

Regarding the revised European Sport Charter, the aims of the recently finalized (AMID, DONA, EdMedia, ELCAMP, EMPATIA, More Than Gold, Sport Opens Schools, and STARTING11) and ongoing (BRAVA-DC, COMPATH, Para-Limits, Talent, Sports as Value) projects co-funded by the European Union have been illustrated. Furthermore, the EAS and EPAS role in the ongoing European COST Action Determinants of Physical Activity in Settings (DE-PASS, CA19101) has been highlighted.

To integrate the Bureau of the Consultative Committee elected last year (Vice Chair: Mogens Kirkeby – International Sport and Culture Association – ISCA; Members: Pauline Johanet – Peace and Sport; Janez Sodrznik – The Association For International Sport for All – TAFISA; Baiba Veisa – European Fair Play Movement – EFPM), and to the Gender Equality Rapporteur (Marie Dennington – European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation – ENGSO), Charlotte Girard Fabre (International Federation for Sports Officials – IFSO) and Andrej Pisl (European University Sports Association – EUSA) have been elected for an one-year mandate as Chair and new Member, respectively. Also the Governing Board elected its new Bureau, confirming Chair Alexandre Husting (Luxembourg) and Vice-Chair Andrea Carletti (Italy), and Members Solène Charuau (France), Benthe Tanghe (Netherlands), Andrew Decelis (Malta), Ioanna Paraskevopoulou (Cyprus) and Diana De Aguiar Santos (Portugal).

During the joint sessions, the past and upcoming EPAS events have been presented. Issues on the promotion of sport integrity have been discussed, including the draft Declaration on Sport Integrity and the role of the International Network of Magistrates and Prosecutors Responsible for Sports (MARS) to be presented to the Committee of Ministers.

The day before the meetings, EPAS also organized a hybrid training session on gender equality, with dr. Jane Dennehy specifically addressing unconscious bias in women’s sport and media.

More information is available at https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/epas/.