The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) hosted a gathering at the House of Sport in Brussels to hear the European Parliament’s Own Initiative Report on the “Integrated approach to Sport Policy: Good Governance, accessibility, integrity”.
The European Parliament’s report to promote physical activity and grassroots sports was prompted by several components, including the World Health Organization identifying the lack of physical activity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.
Recent scandals including “doping, corruption and hooliganism” also inspired the need for more integrity and governance in sport. Lastly, the global refugee crisis and migration challenges have purportedly prompted a need to promote equal accessibility to sport activities and to facilitate social integration of migrants through sport, according to initiative.
The report will feed into the European Commission evaluation of sports policy in 2017 and be available for the public in October on the webpage of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).
FESI Secretary General Alberto Bichi fully endorsed the European Parliament‘s initiative and called for it to be as ambitious as possible.
“The report demonstrates that sport deserves greater political attention as an active contributor to economic growth and social cohesion, to say the least. FESI and the House of Sport are therefore applauding the EU’s efforts to strengthen sports policy and will remain closely involved by providing the required support and input,” said Bichi.
FESI represents the interests of approximately 1,800 sporting goods manufacturers through its 12 National Sporting Goods Industry Federations and its directly affiliated member companies.
