Anti-doping and grassroots sport in focus of the Presidency sport policy experts

The traditional meeting of the Directors General for Sports, which was chaired by the Latvian Presidency and attended by 27 European Union (EU) Member States, was held on 17 February. In addition to debating anti-doping issues, the meeting also focused on grassroots sport, which is one of the Latvian Presidency priorities and was the theme of the EU Sport Conference entitled “Sport and Physical Activity for Development of the Human Capital . Held on 16 February at the National Library of Latvia, this conference brought together 130 experts in the field.

With the revised World-Anti Doping Code in force from 1 January 2015, this is a special year for doping issues. As the meeting in Riga showed, not all Member States have harmonised their national legislation, rules and regulations with the revised version of the Code. With rapid developments in medicine, doping is a serious problem that constantly requires fresh approaches - in research, control and various preventive educational activities. The participants at the meeting noted a need for intensified data-sharing and closer cooperation since doping is a plague that cannot be fought alone.

Historically, anti-doping efforts have focused on elite and competitive sport. There is, however, growing concern about the misuse of substances in recreational sport too. In an active debate, the Member States expressed a readiness to combat doping in recreational sport and pointed out the need to pay more attention to dealing with this issue, particularly as regards the suppliers of doping products.

The meeting also covered the development of grassroots sport, with a particular focus on street sport, which was introduced to the participants by Mr Māris Šlēziņš, the Chairman of the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation and Chairman of the Latvian Street Workout Sports Association. Given the importance of sport in the development of personality and soft skills which can lead to improved employability, the Member States pointed out that street sports can be used as a channel for reaching out to audiences which would be hard to engage through traditional sport.