Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-01-Speech-3-286-000"
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"en.20120201.18.3-286-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all I would like to thank Ms Vassiliou, my colleagues from the Committee on Culture and Education and the shadow rapporteurs from the other political groups for the fruitful work we have done together over the past few months.
Unfortunately, racism, xenophobia and homophobia are present in sport, and it is therefore necessary to implement new measures to eliminate any signs of those threats at sporting events.
I would like to stress the undeniable benefit that sport has on people’s health, leading to a significant reduction in public health spending. I would also highlight the importance of sport as a means of integration for the most vulnerable groups, such as immigrants and socially excluded groups, as well as for those with disabilities.
Betting should be protected from unauthorised activities, and from suspected match fixing, in particular by recognising organisers’ property rights with regard to their competitions. The report also calls on Member States to take legal action against sports fraud.
It is fundamentally important that commercial exploitation of audiovisual rights for sport competitions should be carried out on a centralised, territorial basis with a view to guaranteeing that revenues are distributed fairly between elite and mass-participation sport.
I would like to draw attention to the proposal to establish a European Day of Sports and an Erasmus Sports Programme, and to protect indigenous sports as part of our cultural heritage.
These are just a few of the issues dealt with in the report, and I hope I can count on Parliament’s support.
Today the sports world is mourning those who died at a football match in Egypt. I would like to express my strong condemnation, and to remember the victims and their families.
While drawing up this report I was in constant contact with the sports world, hearing people’s concerns and trying to reflect the issues on which the EU is being asked to express its opinion.
The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon has caused a revolution in the sports world because, for the first time, it was given its own legal basis, in Article 165. The first response to the Treaty was the Commission communication entitled ‘Developing the European Dimension in Sport’, which follows the guidelines set out in the 2007 White Paper. Parliament responded with an own-initiative report of the same name. The report was approved by the Committee on Culture and Education by 28 votes in favour and 2 votes against.
I would like to highlight two concepts related to sport, of which I was very aware when writing the report. Firstly, the principle of subsidiarity, which recognises the competences of Member States and, secondly, the concept of the specific nature of sport, as mentioned in Article 165. However, this is not a universal principle, but rather one that must be analysed and approved on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the autonomy of governance structures in sport should be respected as a fundamental principle for its organisation.
Allow me to briefly highlight some points made in the report. First of all, volunteering, when thousands of citizens selflessly take part to ensure that countless sporting events can be held. We must give them our unconditional support.
Secondly, doping. Doping substances are a blight on sport and society. We should educate people on prevention, convict traffickers, pursue cheats and harmonise sanctions between sports law and civil law, maintaining the greatest possible respect for sportspeople. The report urges Member States to treat trafficking in illegal substances in the same way as trafficking in illegal drugs and to adopt national legislation to this end.
It is vital to support the practice of sport in schools, and we therefore call for sport to be part of their curriculum.
At some point, sportspeople’s professional careers come to an end, and during their career they need to have access to high-quality academic training in order to later become integrated into the world of work."@en1
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