Representatives of the 49 member States of the Council of Europe have addressed a number of sport-related matters during a two-days Conference of Sports Ministers, held in Athens. Ethics and autonomy in sport as well as current political issues on pan-European were in the agenda of the conference, which counted with the presence of European sports organisations such as ENGSO, EOC, UEFA and EPFL.

With regard to the promotion of ethics in sport, the ministers and seniors officials from the participating governmental organisations reiterated their support to the Code of Sports Ethics and the implementation of its principles and values, and invited the so-called Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) to promote best practices, in cooperation with the sports movement, to tackle the challenges posed by illegal betting, match-fixing and other detrimental phenomena. Noteworthy was also the request addressed to the same networking platform to "help achieve increased integrity controls and 'fair return' to sport for grassroots funding as regards betting", according to a resolution approved at the end of the conference.

Within the same context, the participants welcomed the steps given by the sports movement, at international, European and national level, and public authorities, to prevent and sanction the trafficking of young players, having invited the EPAS to build on initiatives taken by the international sports federations and the European Union in order to promote the highest standards as to the activity performed by the players' agents.

In another resolution approved today, the Council of Europe reaffirmed its attachment to the principle of autonomy of sport and acknowledged the key role played by the sports organisations, whether at international, European and national level. Aware that the concept of autonomy of the sports structures covers "different realities depending on the cultures and organisational models, and wishing to respect its diversity", the European ministers responsible for sport invited the EPAS to promote joint meetings between public authorities and the sports movement, to discuss the various positions on the question of autonomy and the possibility of promoting, at European level, a definition of autonomy.

Finally, with regard to the current political issues on pan-European sports cooperation, the conference discussed the outcome of the EU French Presidency and the involvement of European public authorities in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). On the occasion, the Spanish Secretary of State responsible for sport, Jaime Lissavetsky, was designated to WADA's Executive Committee.   

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In line with the objective of promoting knowledge sharing and facilitating the exchange of information between Members and Associate Members and relevant stakeholders, the EPFL launched a Cycle of Conferences on “The Future of professional Football in Europe”.

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