Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-044"
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"en.20000907.1.4-044"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, after this very fruitful debate, I shall simply make a few observations.
Finally, you may rest assured that the French Presidency, having listened to you, will proceed with great determination towards the establishment of a solid basis for the recognition of the specific status of sport and in the fight against doping.
Because we are all concerned about the excesses that occur in sport, it is very understandable that we have been focusing on those excesses, but it must also be stressed that the vast majority of the men and women who are involved in sport – participants and voluntary officials in local sports clubs and in sports associations – are men and women with a high regard for the values of sport, advocates of the sporting ethic who want sport to be a means of individual and collective development.
I refute the charges of universal drug-taking, I refute the idea put forward a moment ago that footballers’ brains are all in their feet and that they are incapable of thinking. Sportswomen and sportsmen are citizens of our countries. Perhaps we should give them more of a hearing so that they themselves can express their hopes and their fears.
Setting aside the excesses, we should also be aware that, in the world of association football for example, only one per cent of all players registered with the International Federation of Football Associations are professionals. So what we must try to defend is the whole of sporting activity, not just one aspect of it. I believe that this is extremely important.
With regard to doping, I entirely agree with the idea that its underlying causes have to be tackled. We have heard talk of sporting calendars. Let me also mention the dependence of some sportspeople on results and on sponsorship. Similarly, there is a need to speak about the pressures from the media giants, which invariably try to raise the stakes in any competition. So, the underlying causes have to be tackled, and without delay; I believe the accent must be placed on controls, on sporting sanctions and on action against the supply chains. Not enough action is being taken at the level of the European Union to dismantle the chains through which these stimulants are made available within sporting circles.
Concerning the specific question that was asked, I believe it is absolutely essential that each Member State and the European Union as a whole should work on a sort of convention which would be signed between the States and WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, to facilitate the work of WADA in all countries, whatever their current legislation.
On the question of transfers, allow me to give my position and the position of the French Presidency. I am not in favour of maintaining the status quo, because we are familiar with the huge excesses which it has created and which have no economic, social or sporting justification. Nor do I wish the transfer system to disappear completely, because that would bring about an even more anarchic free-for-all than the one we are experiencing today, and the essential focus of inter-club rivalry would be the ability to offer the fattest pay packets.
In the past 48 hours, FIFA has made some extremely constructive and interesting proposals, which, if adopted, would serve to protect the youth-development system and individual rights, as well as satisfying the clubs’ need to build and train teams. This should be an interesting basis for discussion with the Commission, as Mrs Reding was explaining a short while ago. So there is the possibility of innovative proposals in this domain. It is vital, however, that some of the major clubs which seek complete deregulation, so that they can organise private competitions, do not try to sabotage the discussion process on which FIFA and the Commission are about to embark.
Someone spoke of the ‘social role of sport’ and asked whether it meant that sport was the opium of the people. No, I believe that the social role of sport simply consists of enabling individuals to find themselves through an activity, to blossom, to meet other individuals and to engage together in something of benefit to them in their lives."@en1
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