Athletes associations issue statement on corruption in sport

At a conference organised by UNI europa and the European Elite Athletes Association in Krakow, Poland in September, participants, representing 26 players associations approved a number of statements, including one on corruption in sport.

The following statements were approved by the conference for release:

Statement on corruption in sport 
The members of the European Elite Athletes Association recognize and commend section C4, clause 44, of the Coubertin Action plan of the White Paper on Sport relating to “corruption, money laundering and other financial crime”.

Corruption, for the purposes of this statement, is defined as the misuse of entrusted power for personal gain, which may not necessarily be financial.

Corruption and conflicts of interest in sport have a substantial and negative impact on the position of the athlete. Therefore, the EU Athletes member associations call, in general, for more transparency and accountability in sport. Athletes associations are prepared to play a positive role in this effort but recognize that all actors in sport including federations and leagues must tackle this problem through the adoption and implementation of codes of ethics, and the establishment of effective ethics commissions and compliance systems as is the norm in other industries.

Statement on player agents
The members recognize problems and conflicts of interest in the player transfer market. They support the process underway to study and potentially regulate the player agent industry in Europe. They call for more transparency on player transfers and agent fees and insist that players associations be involved in efforts related to the licensing and/or accreditation of agents.

Statement of support for the European Social Dialogue in the Sport Sector The members of the European Elite Athletes Association support the European Social Dialogue application of UNI europa and EASE and pledge their support to establish and actively participate in a European Social Dialogue in the Sport Sector.

Statement regarding anti doping regulations
Athletes associations across Europe are committed to drug free sport and would support a fair and effective performance-enhancing drug testing regime that recognizes, respects and protects athletes’ legal rights as both employees and European citizens. Aspects of any regime of doping rules that are not sport specific must be negotiated directly with athlete social partner organizations through either a social dialogue or collective bargaining process. 

For more information please contact:

Walter PALMER

EU Athletes – General Secretary
Telephone: +499512413679
Email: walterpalmer@euathletes.info
Website: www.euathletes.info

Conference participants included representatives from the following athletes organizations:

NL Sporter – the Dutch Olympic Athletes Association
NL Sporter (Basketball Section) 
UNI europa
IRUPA – the Irish Rugby Union Players Association
GPA – the Gaelic Players Association
GIBA – the Italian Basketball Players Association
SICO – the Swedish Ice Hockey Players Association
EHPU – the European Handball Players Association
FHPA – the Finnish Ice Hockey Players Association
SP.IN – the German Basketball Players Association
AJBM – the Spanish Handball Players Association
PPF – the Professional Players Federation (11 players associations in the U.K) 
FNASS – representing the French Handball Players Association
AIPAV – the Italian Volleyball Players Association
ABP – the Spanish Basketball Players Association
PSAK – the Greek Basketball Players Association
AJFS – the Spanish Indoor Football Players Association

The conference was held in Krakow, Poland from September 18-20, 2009 under the auspices of a European Commission funded project – “Building the Social Dialogue for Elite Athletes within the European Union”. UNI europa (www.uniglobalunion.org) and the European Elite Athletes Association (www.euathletes.info) organized the meeting.