Brian Mikkelsen's opening speech 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen – dear participants

Sport has a value and an importance in and on itself.

But when we look at sport in a broader context, it is clear that the values of sport, the potential of sport and the effects of sport are of massive importance for the individual and for society.

Sporting activities teach our children a sense of fairness, of cooperation, of solidarity, of fruitful competition. Through sport our youngsters can play, win, make goals and set goals for always improving their skill. Losing games will of course lead to disappointment. But the experience will provide insight into one’s own reactions and become an incentive to do better next time.

Sport is a crucial tool for fighting health problems in children and later in life, such as the very serious problem of obesity which a great part of the world is facing. We can all meet on the playground no matter which background we have, which language we speak, how skilful we are.

As for our societies, sport is an important element of citizens’ life and an element of our cultures. Olympic Medals or World Championship titles can bring a nation together and make its citizens proud. The voluntary sector of sport plays a crucial role in society with its activities and fundamental values. Sport is entertainment, a positive force, and it provides exciting battles between adversaries.

Sport is also business – often big business. Sport generates large sums of money and creates many jobs. Sport is an industry and plays a major role in the expanding economy of culture and entertainment. And sport contributes increasingly to the dynamic of economic growth. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I could continue for a very long time praising the values and impacts of sport. The point is that there are many extremely good aspects of sport which are essential for us as individuals and for our societies and which we therefore need to protect and safeguard. For the sake of our children, of the sports movement, of the sports industry, – for the sake of us all.

We are all stakeholders and there is a lot at stake. The core values of sport and their beneficial effects are increasingly becoming subject to serious threats which put both the moral and material richness of sport at risk. I will not give examples – I am sure that this conference will provide you with many concrete cases. But what I would like to stress is that we all have a responsibility to protect the good from the bad and the ugly! Otherwise everything falls apart and we will no longer be able to enjoy –  and learn from – the good lessons of sport.

What are the main dangers of sport which we are facing?

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen: they can be summarised into one word: Cheating! And let me add that I need to be categorical here: Either one cheats or one does not cheat. There is no such thing as “cheating a little bit”, “cheating once in a while“ or “cheating light”. Either one plays fair or one plays unfair! It’s as simple as a sequence of a spaghetti western!

I am sure that everyone of us – maybe as a child –  while doing sport has witnessed a dirty tackling, an unjust ruling from what we thought was a blind referee or an irregular interference from a member of the audience. Such experiences gave us as children a clear sense of what is unfair, fair, right and wrong and we tend never to forget our childhood indignation caused by injustice and cheating.

Taking drugs in order to enhance sporting performance is cheating. I am of course referring to the ugly phenomenon of doping. Doping not only presents serious health risks but also undermines the credibility of sport. Doping is indeed cheating – cheating the crowd, cheating the fellow competitors – and not least cheating one self. Every child knows that it’s wrong to cheat and yet it’s becoming more and more common to walk that dangerous path.

If we, governments, sports organisations and the media do not act, then consider the impact on our children and young people. Athletes become bad role models and set a very dangerous example – sometimes lethal – for our youth.

Doping is without doubt the most serious immediate problem we are confronted with. I have therefore personally involved myself very strongly in the fight against doping - both nationally and internationally. I am delighted that with the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, a world-wide instrument has been set up in which both governments and the sports movement are cooperating against a common enemy. And with the unanimous adoption of the UNESCO Convention Against Doping in Sport a few weeks ago, we now have the legal  and operational framework which we have anticipated for a very long time. The adoption of the Convention and the forthcoming ratification of it is the most important contribution to the fight against doping from the governmental side.

Together with doping -  fraud, corruption, fixed sport matches, undemocratic structures and procedures are bad pieces of the same ugly puzzle casting dark shadows over the world of sport. And because of some individuals’ shameless and short-term quest for instant gain and power, such behaviour can cause negative long-term effects to the functioning of sport.

It is therefore essential that we all join forces in order to ensure good governance in sport based on principles of democracy, rule of law, fairness, physical and moral integrity, and that we all – governments, sports organisations, the media, civil society – work together in order to ensure that these principles are respected and followed. Only through a set of commonly agreed principles can we ensure transparency and accountability in the widest sense.

Preventing is much better than cure. And I believe that building the structures of sport on the core values of sport is the only answer to the challenge of ensuring good governance within the area.

A first step towards this goal is to get not only the good, but also the bad and ugly of sport out in the open!

Let me recall that Sport Ministers within the Council of Europe last year discussed the principles of good governance in sport, including the problems of corruption in the area. The Ministers called for all interested parties to subscribe to common good principles in the area of sport and reaffirmed that the nature of sport itself requires that unethical practices and behaviours in sport should be forcefully and effectively countered.

However, governments alone cannot address the challenges but must work together with all interested parties. Like the characters in Sergio Leone’s film “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” need to share their knowledge and information in order to get the gold treasure, all interested parties such as the sports organisations, the sports industry, the media – should cooperate and share their knowledge.

I am therefore very pleased that this conference is taking place and am very proud that the discussions are being held on Danish soil. “Play the Game” allows key players to meet, to exchange, to list problems and to propose solutions. I thank the Danish sports organisations and other supporting organisations and institutions – as well as in particular the Director of “Play the Game”, Mr Sejer Andersen – for their invaluable efforts to set an important agenda and to provide a forum for discussing it. The programme of this year’s conference is extremely interesting and I would have liked to be present during the whole of the conference. This is not possible but I have made sure that I will be briefed on your deliberations.

It’s crucial to talk, discuss and exchange. But it’s equally important to act. Something any western would tell us. Governments, sport organisations, the media, researchers have a responsibility to pull the imaginary trigger.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the journalists and researchers who cover and uncover the good, the bad and the ugly of sport. With your commitment, pursuit and courage, you provide us with facts – sometimes unbelievable facts – which are necessary for keeping us on the track and for carrying out our task to protect and safeguard the core values of sport.

The role of the media is crucial in ensuring and protecting the good of sport. But the media do also have a great responsibility in covering stories in a balanced way. This means that the media should not contribute to a distorted and unrealistic portrayal of sportsmen and sportswomen as heroes, or of sports clubs as golden money spinners. This idealisation helps keeping up the pressure for cheating and for making use of illegal means. Not only the media but all of us have a responsibility to break this vicious circle.

Ladies and Gentlemen! I wish you some important and inspiring days. I am sure that you will have very fruitful exchanges and go through the good, bad and ugly in sport. I am convinced that we can pursue our common goal – the safeguarding of the values of sport – without double-crossing each other like Blondie, Angel Eyes and Tuco – or the Good, the Bad & the Ugly – did in Sergio Leone’s film.

Let me therefore open the conference by an invitation: Let us play the game. Let us play the good game. And let us play it well.

Thank you very much.

Brian Mikkelsen