Play the Game launches new measuring tool at EU seminar on good governance in sports organisations
31.01.2013
The many corruption scandals in sport in recent years are a cause of concern in the EU. For the last year, the European Commission has supported a number of projects intended to create more transparency and less corruption in the big sports organisations, and the European Parliament recently held a public hearing on the subject. The projects are now coming to an end and on that occasion Play the Game will host a seminar in Brussels on 8 April where media, EU politicians, officials and representatives from sport will bring good governance in sport into focus.
Play the Game is especially pleased that a number of other important EU projects are able to join in the seminar and present their results, even though they do not end their projects until later this year. The projects in question will be presented by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), Supporters Direct, Sport & Recreation Alliance and the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA).
“Corruption and undemocratic governance are such widespread problems in sport, that no organisation can handle it on its own. It is important that as many stakeholders and different points of view as possible are engaged, so we can continuously develop the debate about the state of affairs in sport. Public pressure is crucial in order to instigate change in the sports organisations,” says Jens Sejer Andersen, international director of Play the Game.
Play the Game’s own contribution to the seminar 8 April will be the presentation of the “Sports Governance Observer”, a tool to measure transparency, democracy and accountability in international sports organisations.
“The tool has been developed in cooperation with leading experts from six European universities and the European Journalism Centre as a part of our project called Action for Good Governance in International Sports Organisations.
The tool can be used to follow on a regular basis how the management of the sports organisations improve – or lack improvement – and it is meant to be available for everyone to be able to get an idea of the governance standards of the organisations they have a relationship with.
More information about the time, venue and programme for the seminar on Monday 8 April will be made available within the coming weeks.
You can find more information about the respective EU projects here: