More and more clubs are being added in the list of European outfits supporting the initiative of Harvard University and endorsing the Athens Principle on the Right to Participate in Sport, which Evangelos Marinakis signed first. In the context of the fixture against Sporting, hosted in Estádio José Alvalade, the club launched another major, non-sporting partnership, by bringing the Athens Principle on the table and getting the Lions President, Bruno de Carvalho, to sign it as well!
Some 2 months ago, the Legend hosted in Greece the Harvard University-organised conference entitled “Reinforcing, Crossing, and Transcending Borders: Soccer in a Globalized World”. Our country and Olympiacos attracted the interest of the entire academic world, since professors from across the world attended the event in order to discuss the way in which football and sports as a whole may serve mankind!
The outcome of all discussions and debates was the signing of the Athens Principle on the Right to Participate in Sport. Mr Marinakis first signed this important document which reflects the result of the thinking process of many important professors from around the world on the way in which society may take more things out of football and sports as a whole! Following Barcelona, whose President Bartomeu inked it before our side’s encounter with Barcelona in Camp Nou, it was Mr de Carvalho sho also signed it in the context of Olympiacos fixture against Sporting.
Olympiacos FC CEO Giorgos Pavlou sat next to the main figure of the Portuguese outfit and sanctioned Sporting’s participation in the Athens Principle. The signing was also attended by Strategic Advisor of Olympiacos F.C. Christian Karembeu and other members of the Legend’s Administration, amongst whom Messrs Kountouris, Agrafiotis, Vrentzos, Karapapas, Vernikos, Masoulas and Mrs Lagka. The coach of the Portuguese National Team and defending European Champion Fernando Santos also attended signing. The word about the Athens Principle is being spread and Europe’s major clubs endorse it one after the other. All that thanks to an initiative of the Olympiacos leader Mr Evangelos Marinakis, who‘s always coming up with new ways for our Club to support our fellow people!
The Athens Principles on the Right to Participate in Sport,
Preamble
Sport provides life skills and values that have a long lasting impact on people’s lives. It builds confidence, inspires youth, and helps overcome prejudice. It has the power of transcending borders and bringing people together, regardless of their race, gender, religion, culture or nationality.
The sport industry has grown significantly over the last few decades. Sport teams have worldwide followings and passionate groups of supporters who come from different social backgrounds. This broad base of support contributes to clubs’ widespread presence in social media and to the increased attention that sport organizations receive from the press.
This expanded visibility enables clubs and their players to influence public discussions and to embrace the added social responsibility that comes with such influence. This responsibility extends to ensuring that as many people as possible are able to play the games they love, without encountering discrimination or prejudice.
The responsibility of clubs and their players in promoting universal participation is even more crucial at a time when the number of displaced people in the world escaping conflict or persecution has reached its highest point in history. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 20 people are displaced from their homes every minute, a high percentage of whom are unaccompanied children and disabled men and women.
In the spirit of achieving universal participation, the 2015 UNESCO Sport Charter1 reaffirms that the right to participate in sport is a fundamental right for all. However, many people in the world are still deprived of this right because of lack of opportunity, lack of access or prejudice. It is therefore the responsibility of clubs and sport associations to help extend the benefits of participation in sport to individuals in all communities, especially those who are marginalized or vulnerable.
Guided by our social responsibilities and reflecting the rights and duties established in the UNESCO Sport Charter, we agree to promote, support and implement the following 12 Principles:
1. This Declaration is a common standard of achievement for all clubs, teams, players and sports associations of all sports, to the end that every individual and company should strive, through education and example, to promote respect for these rights and to progressively secure their effective recognition and observance.
2. Every human being has a fundamental right to participate in sport without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, or national or social origin. Furthermore, no distinction should be made on the basis of the political or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs. Clubs and sport associations should actively campaign against and refuse to engage in any such discrimination at both youth and professional levels.
3. Participation in sport should be based on the principles of healthy and honest competition and respect for all competitors.
4. Initiatives that encourage the participation of displaced people, whatever their civil status, in sporting activities should be supported.
5. Sport for young people should be first and foremost about participation, physical activity and having fun.
6. Girls should have as much access to sport and sport teams as boys, particularly in school and in youth games and leagues.
7. Everyone should have equal access without discrimination to sport training, resources and services, as well as the opportunity to participate in all supervision and decision-making at all levels of sport.
8. Clubs and sport associations agree to encourage greater participation in sport in conflict ridden or economically depressed areas and, when possible, to contribute financial resources, including providing used but appropriate equipment for the use of those people who lack adequate resources to participate in sport.
9. Adequate and safe places, facilities, equipment and dress-options should be provided to meet the needs of all participants in sport, bearing in mind the different needs associated with people of different cultures, genders, ages and abilities.
10. Sport facilities should be made more accessible to a greater percentage of the global population.
11. An International Day of the Right to Play should be declared to affirm the right to participate in sport as a universal and fundamental right and to promote the principles set out in this Declaration.
12. Initiatives should be developed to create partnerships with researchers and NGOs whose work will be helpful to implementing these principles.
Evangelos M. Marinakis
President, Olympiacos FC
