Minister Kralev: We should use new technologies to show the beauty of sport and to motivate for physical activity

Met dank overgenomen van Bulgaars voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2018 (Bulgaars voorzitterschap) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 14 juni 2018.

Photos: Ministry of Youth and Sports

The conference on Grassroots sport as a tool for integration and bridge between tradition and innovation, which took place on 12-13 June 2018, provided a platform to exchange ideas how new technologies may contribute to the use of traditional sports and games for better physical activity of the population.

“Advanced technologies make sport not only fairer but also more accessible to spectators. There is no doubt that young people use advanced technologies and we should direct our efforts at showing them the beauty of different sports and the opportunities for practicing them in order to motivate them for regular physical activity”,

the Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sports Krassen Kralev emphasised.

At the opening of the conference, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, sent a video message to the guests. Among the participants were also Aleksandar Boričić, President of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, Director for Innovation, International Cooperation and Sport at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission, Stefan Apostolov, Deputy Chairman of the Commission for Children, Youth and Sport of the Bulgarian National Assembly, Pavel Kolev, Deputy Executive Director of the Bulgarian Football Union, Ivo Ivanov, sports author and journalist, as well as representatives of the Council of Europe, the European Olympic Committee, the UN, the Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA), the European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI), UEFA, the English Premier League, and the German Football Association.

The conference was the last event in the sports sector of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. It was organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme.

An informal meeting of the EU Sport Directors preceded the conference. During that meeting the Member States expressed their joint view that the Macolin Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions should become effective as soon as possible, and that the way to do this is to achieve consensus at political level within the EU. The participants also discussed the choice of EU representatives in the Foundation Board and the Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the future functioning of the Erasmus+ Programme.

The incoming Austrian Presidency presented its priorities and events in the field of sport.