News 2022
Season's greetings and 2022 highlights
The Sport Division sends you its best wishes for the end of the year. We look forward to continuing working in advancing and protecting human rights in and through sport in 2023. We invite you to discover our Calendar of activities 2023, and to already pencil in your agendas the relevant dates....
Anti-Doping evaluation visit to Sweden
A team of Council of Europe experts carried out an evaluation visit in Sweden to assess its anti-doping system, from disciplinary and educational measures to national policies to ensure clean sport. Held from 5 to 7 December 2022. The visit aimed at evaluating how Sweden implements the...
Iceland joins the Saint-Denis and Macolin Conventions
Ragnhildur Arnljótsdóttir, Permanent Representative of Iceland, deposited, this 6 December 2022, before the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge, the instrument of acceptance of the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at...
Forum on Sport and Human Rights: Focus on freedom of expression
The second edition of the Forum on Sport and Human Rights, organised by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), took place on 30 November 2022 in hybrid format (Strasbourg and online). The central theme of the Forum was freedom of expression. The event revolved around four subject areas:...
A new network of Magistrates/Prosecutors Responsible for Sports to reinforce sport integrity
The Network of Magistrates/Prosecutors Responsible for Sports (MARS) set up by the Council of Europe, held its first meeting on 25 November 2022 in Strasbourg, France. This event marks the formal creation of a network of magistrates and prosecutors specialised in sports integrity. The network...
Anti-Doping evaluation visit to Portugal
A team of Council of Europe experts carried out an evaluation visit in Portugal to assess its anti-doping system, from disciplinary and educational measures to national policies to ensure clean sport. Held on 22-24 November 2022, the visit aimed at evaluating how Portugal implements the...
Start to Talk in Bulgaria: first round table
The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) and the Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sports co-organised the first national round table in the framework of the Start to Talk project. The event was held on 22 November in Sofia with the aim of building the foundations of the roadmap for an...
The #SportSpreadsRespect team meets French authorities to kickstart the mapping work
The "Combating Hate Speech in Sport" project team met with French national partners on 8 and 9 November in Paris to discuss with stakeholders the state of play of hate speech in sport in France, in view of finalising the Fact Sheet to be presented by the National Coordinator at the project’s next...
EPAS presents the Sport Governance Benchmark at the IPACS Steering Committee annual meeting
The Secretariat of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) participated in the 8th Steering Committee meeting of the International Partnership Against Corruption on Sport (IPACS), held on 8 November 2022 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The objectives of the meeting were to present the work of...
59th meeting of the Ad hoc European Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency (CAHAMA)
The Ad hoc Committee in charge of coordinating the European Public Authorities’ positions on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) policies, the CAHAMA, met on 3 and 4 November in Strasbourg, France. The CAHAMA acts as a catalyst of the rule of law and democratic values upheld by the Council of...
Together to combat the Manipulation of Sports Competitions: two new signatures of the Macolin Convention
The Republic of Türkiye and North Macedonia signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (CETS No. 215), known as the Macolin Convention, on 26 October 2022 in Antalya, Türkiye. Ms Slavica GRKOVSKA, Deputy-Prime Minister of North Macedonia and Mr Mehmet...
17th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport: focus on Sport for All and Rethinking Sport
Sport for All and Rethinking Sport were the two central themes of the 17th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport that was held on 26 October in Antalya, Türkiye. Organised by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and...
Autumn session of the Macolin Week in Strasbourg: 4 events on the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions
More than 100 participants from over 36 countries gathered in person and online for the Macolin Week. The delegations warmly thanked the Ukrainian representatives for their presence in Strasbourg. On October 17 and 18, the Group of Copenhagen, the Follow-up Committee's Advisory group and...
Anti-Doping evaluation visit to Spain
A team of Council of Europe experts carried out an evaluation visit in Spain to assess its entire anti-doping system, from sample collection and processing to disciplinary and educational measures. Held on 18-20 October 2022, the visit ultimately aimed at evaluating how Spain implements the...
#SportSpreadsRespect progresses mapping the state of play of hate speech in sport in Greece and Spain
An online workshop was held on 17 October 2022 to map the state of play of hate speech in sport in Greece and Spain, in view of the preparation of the countries’ national strategies and the #SportSpreadsRespect national campaigns The project’s approach is a 4-step strategy: data gathering and...
Combating Hate Speech in Sport: Ioannis Melissanidis gets onboard of the #Sport Spreads Respect project
The Olympic gold medallist in artistic gymnastics and Greek sport legend Ioannis Melissanidis met the management of the Council of Europe Sport Division and “Combating Hate Speech in Sport” joint project. Mr Melissanidis is proposed by the Greek government to be one of the #Sport Spreads Respect...
Anti-Doping evaluation visit to Ireland
A team of Council of Europe experts has carried out an evaluation visit in Dublin, Ireland, to assess the country’s anti-doping programme, practices and measures. Held on 5-7 October 2022, the visit aimed at evaluating the implementation by Ireland of the Anti-Doping Convention. The team met with...
"Sport is a great leveller that can bring people together in a way that nothing else can”, Bjørn Berge tells Commonwealth Sports Ministers
“Sport is a great leveller that can bring people together in a way that nothing else can”, highlighted the Deputy Secretary General while addressing the 10th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Birmingham. Bjørn Berge underlined how the Council of Europe’s four-year strategic priorities for...
Second meeting on the Mapping of Sports Facilities
The Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) and the Mulier Instituut are organising a series of three online meetings on the Mapping of Sports Facilities. Each meeting revolves around a different topic and brings together experts in the field, including sports...
“Child Safeguarding in Sport” comes to an end: time focus on its achievements
The results of the EU-CoE joint project “Child Safeguarding in Sport” (CSiS) were presented at the closing event which took place on 23 June 2022 in hybrid format from Strasbourg. They include the development of country-specific roadmaps for effective child safeguarding in sport policies in the...
@CoE_Sports, #CoE4Sport
