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11.06.2010

Approaching the end of its semester, the Spanish Presidency of the EU organised a symposium on sport on 1-2 June in Madrid. The symposium, titled "Thinking sports, transforming society", was made up of panel discussions which aimed at discussing and reflecting on problems which affect sport and physical activity transversally, the role of sporting organisations and elite sportspeople, and the role of governments and European public institutions in passing on sporting values and habits to people in Europe.

In his opening address, the Secretary of State for Sport Mr Jaime Lissavetzky Díez framed the setting of the symposium by emphasising both the global and local nature of sport and its asymmetries. “Sport is an unequal global phenomenon”, he said, referring to the existing challenges in gender equality in sport, to the need for respect of diversity and tolerance in sport, and to issues of global governance in sport, notably the need to respect and understand the autonomy and specific nature of sport.

Among the participants of the panel discussions well-known Spanish opinion leaders and elite athletes appeared together with influential international guests. The topics of the discussions ranged from sport and the media to the individualisation of society and from gender equality to child protection. Interaction with the audience, comprising mainly Spanish sports actors together with some representatives of the international sports community and other EU Members States, was effected through written questions to the panellists.

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