EFPM General Assembly was held online on June 7
European Fair Play Movement General Assembly
June 7th, 2023
On June 7, 2023, the EFPM held is annual General Meeting. The twenty five delegates representing fifteen members of the EFPM and two partner organizations present during this virtual edition had the opportunity to remember the stages of the year 2022 and to confirm the current program for the year 2023.
The President of EFPM, Philippe Housiaux OLY (Belgium), welcomed the members and gave the floor to Mr. Tomasz Frankowski, Member of the European Parliament. Mr. Frankowski opened the General Assembly by emphasizing the importance of European values and Fair Play and the positive role that sport has in European societies, he indeed declared that: “As a former football player I pay a particular attention to Fair-Play and the fight against racism, hate speech and any form of harassment and violence which should be heavily sanctioned. I believe that in these difficult times that the European Institutions, the Member States, and sport stakeholders have a great responsibility to ensure that sport policies reflect our European values. Fair-Play and sport are contributing the Respect and Unity”
At the invitation of the President of the EFPM, two expert speakers took the floor. Marine Merceron, Project Manager “Engagement Officer”, COJO Paris 2024 to present the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy and engagement programmes and Zehra Sahin, Chief Communications, Marketing and Development Officer at Special Olympics on the subject: “Sponsorship. A core challenge for International Institutions like EFPM”.
President P. Housiaux based his report on two elements. The first relating to the administrative and institutional consolidation of the EFPM, which has had its headquarters in Brussels since 2022 and which has adopted a new statute, and the second relating to the application of the Executive Summary also adopted in 2022. This document is composed of main chapters which are the main EFPM objectives:
1. Actively promote Fair Play and Olympic Values
2. Platform for education and Fair Play
3. Unique position in Europe for Fair Play and sports integrity
4. Institutional Cooperation
Philippe Housiaux particularly thanked the members for their support for the new Fair Play for Peace Award initiative. For this first edition, the prize was awarded to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The official presentation of this Awardwill take place on September 7 at the Brussels City Hall on the annual occasion of the World Fair-Play Day celebration in the presence of Mrs. Berit Reiss -Andersen, the Chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee who awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
The daily activity of the members with many projects having sport, education and citizenship as pillars was underlined ( see picture with President Jean-Pierre Mougin at the occasion of the French Committee of Fair Play awards ceremony in Paris, November 2022 at the CNOSF) as well as the arrival of new members such as the European Non-Governmental Sports Organization (ENGSO) and the European Athlete as a Student (EAS).
In addition, the EFPM is consolidating its cooperation with the European Olympic Committees (EOC). The members of the EFPM Executive Board participated in the lighting of the flame of the Winter Youth Olympic Festival FVG 2023 which took place in November 2022 in Rome (Ara Pacis) leaded by the EOC President, Spyros Capralos.
Finally, the program for the second part of the year 2023 has been confirmed:
- The EFPM will present the Fair-Play Awards at the European Youth Olympic Festival which takes place from 23-29 July in Maribor, Slovenia.
- The President of EFPM will be in Brussels to participate in the annual World Fair Play Day Ceremony on 7th September at the Brussels City Hall. EFPM being a founding member of this initiative.
- The EFPM Congress with topic “Fair-Play Education to overcome racism in sport” and EFPM Awards Ceremony will take place on 23rd and 24th November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
12.06.2023
