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"Sports has played a massive part in my life", Mr Abid Raja, Norway’s Minister of Culture & Equality

Luca Arfini, a young communications professional from Italy, has started a new series of interviews with high-level figures involved in sports and in its promotion across Europe. The first one to be interviewed is Mr Abid Raja, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality.

Abid Raja was born in Norway but has Pakistani origins; he was one of the first persons in Norwegian politics with a minority background to be nominated at such high-level position.
myGwork •

"LGBTI athletes' first biggest challenge is being accepted." | Interview with Simon Dunn

Simon Dunn is a professional athlete competing in rugby and bobsleigh. Simon was interviewed by Luca Arfini, a young communications professional from Italy, as part of Youth Sport in Europe's 'Pride Month Interviews'.

What is the importance of sports in your life?

Sport has always been a fundamental part of my life, especially when growing up, as I was a very active child. Unfortunately, when I came out sport became a not so welcoming environment. It wasn’t until I was an adult and getting bac
myGwork •

Interview with Kim Meylemans

“My coming out wasn’t so much about me being into girls but more about understanding I had a chance to be part of something bigger by speaking up.”

Luca Arfini, a young communications professional from Italy, started a series of interviews on the coming-out stories of a few LGBTI young professional athletes on the occasion of this year’s Pride Month. This interview is with the 24-year-old Kim Meylemans, the first Belgian Skeleton Athlete ever to compete at the Olympics.

1. What is the importan

New analysis could be a turning point in Alex Schwazer’s doping case

Last month, the Italian Scientific Investigation Department’s (R.I.S.) laboratory in Parma revealed the first results regarding the analysis made on Italian race walker Alex Schwazer’s urine, demonstrating the presence of an atypical concentration of his DNA in the two studied samples (A and B).

These are the same samples that caused Schwazer an eight-year disqualification, after they were found positive at a doping test conducted on the 1st of January 2016, in the run up to the Rio Olympics.

FA issues new plan to make ‘football for all’

This August, the English Football Association (FA) launched ‘In Pursuit of Progress’, a three year plan whose main goal is to make the association’s working environment as inclusive and diverse as possible.

“Football is for everyone and we’re determined to break down barriers which get in the way of progress,” it says in the plan documents.

Even though the FA’s employee team is currently composed of 32% female staff, the percentage of their workforce from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME

Controversial discussions behind esports as Olympic medal event

Last week, an Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) official questioned esports’ inclusion as an official medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games, claiming that the discipline requires one inclusive governing body before it can be recognized as a medal event.

The statement was made by the OCA director general, Husain Al-Musallam, during this month’s OCA executive board meeting where a program of around 40 sports was approved for the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.

"E-sports is not finally

Researchers request greater awareness of gender-based violence in sport

Gender-based violence against women within the sports environment needs urgent attention, global research on gender equality in sport finds.

According to results presented in the ‘International Working Group (IWG) on Women and Sport Progress Report 2013-2018’. The areas where fewest actions have been taken are: improving the media coverage of women in sports (51%), child-care provision (36%) and protecting female athletes from developing eating disorders (34%).

Gender-based violence is not inc

The 26th EASM will address the new challenges within sport and society in Europe

The 26th annual conference of the European Association for Sport Management (EASM), hosted by the Department of Sport Science at Malmö University, is going to take place at Malmö Live from the 5th to the 8th September 2018.

The main theme of the conference is ‘Managing Sport in a Changing Europe’, and will focus on discussions about the emerging struggles faced by the European society within the sports environment, or rather the issues connected to migration, integration and globalisation.

“Th

‘Political drama’ at 2018 Euro Basketball Championship ends after FIBA intervention

Last week, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) had to reschedule Kosovo's group games at the U-16 Basket Championships in Sarajevo, following a delay in issuing visas allegedly due to political reasons.

As explained on FIBA’s official website, all the Kosovan players have now been allowed entry and the games’ tournament have been rescheduled to allow to allow the team to take part in the competition.

“FIBA will carefully review the circumstances of the late issuing of visas to the K

Recent review reveals weaknesses in Australian sport

Last week, the Australian Government released ‘The Review of Australia’s Sports Integrity Arrangements’ done by an independent panel composed by the Hon James Wood AO QC, Mr David Howman CNZM and Mr Ray Murrihy. The review contains 52 recommendations for an effective reaction to the current threats to sports integrity in Australia.

The review was commissioned in August 2017 as a response to the growing integrity breaches within the international sports arena and as part of a broader ‘National S

Recent review reveals weaknesses in Australian sport

Last week, the Australian Government released ‘The Review of Australia’s Sports Integrity Arrangements’ done by an independent panel composed by the Hon James Wood AO QC, Mr David Howman CNZM and Mr Ray Murrihy. The review contains 52 recommendations for an effective reaction to the current threats to sports integrity in Australia.

The review was commissioned in August 2017 as a response to the growing integrity breaches within the international sports arena and as part of a broader ‘National S

Laureus USA believes in the power of sport to fight discrimination

Last week Laureus USA, a nonprofit organisation that aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth through sports activities, published its annual ‘State of Sport for Good Report’. The results show that 77% of respondents trust the role of their organisations in reducing discrimination within the local community.

“In today’s climate of increased discord and divisiveness we believe the strong message of inclusion sports can provide is more important than ever. We are thrilled that sport for d

Human Rights Watch calls for withdrawal of IAAF female classification regulations

In a letter sent last week to IAAF president, Sebastian Coe, Human Rights Watch (HRW) now call for the withdrawal of IAAF new regulations for female classification claiming that they violate women’s internationally protected fundamental rights; discriminating them on both their sex and their sex characteristics.

The new regulations published by IAAF in April and entering into force from November were intended to guarantee a fair competition with the correct placement of each athlete in the appr

Iranian women can watch today’s football match

Yesterday, Nasser Mahmudifard, the manager of Azadi stadium in Tehran, confirmed that Iranian women will be allowed to attend the country's World Cup match against Portugal later today.

It is the second time in 39 years that Iranian women have had the chance to attend a public viewing of a football game. Indeed, since after the 1979 Islamic revolution, they have been banned from entering Iranian stadiums.

Until last week, when the intervention from Iranian interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani F

New guidelines promote trans and intersex people inclusion in sport

Last week, the Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission), The Australian Sports Commission and the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS) issued ‘National Guidelines: Trans and intersex inclusion in sport’; aiming to support sports organisations in the inclusion of trans and intersex people in the sports environment.

“The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide practical guidance to sports organisations on promoting inclusion in a manner that is consistent with

China aims to gain glory through football

According to a recent review into the sponsorship agreements entered for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, published by auditor company KPMG Football Benchmark, sponsorships have reached $200 million more than the expected amount of $1.45 billion.

The findings show that seven out of 19 sponsors are from China, for KPMG this a sign of the country’s efforts in becoming a football ‘superpower’ by 2050, an ambition that has recently been formally included in China’s economic plan, in which sport has become

Sport and Human Rights: new centre launches

On the 26th June 2018, the MSE Platform, which is a multi-stakeholder coalition of different international actors working together to ensure the respect of human rights in sporting events, will launch a new ‘Centre for Sport and Human Rights’ at the ILO's Offices in Geneva.

According to a joint statement made by the MSE Platform , when the announcement of the creation of the new center was published past November, the goal is “to promote effective approaches to prevent, mitigate, and remedy hum

Semenya takes IAAF’s controversial regulations to CAS

This Monday, Caster Semenya, a South-African athlete who is the Olympic 800 meters champion, announced her intention to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to fight the new regulations issued this April by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).

According to Semenya, these rules are unfair to women with high natural testosterone levels, who could be excluded from attending middle-distance races, if they do not undergo medical treatments six months before the competiti

Women feel less valued in sports jobs, says new report

Today, Women in Sport, a UK charity aiming to advance gender equality through and within sport, published ‘Beyond 30% – Workplace Culture in Sport’.

The outcomes of the report are based on the workplace culture within the main sports organisations in the UK; portraying a negative image of the sports work environment with high levels of gender discrimination and under-representation of women in senior leadership roles.

“We led this research to provide the sport sector with in-depth understandin

RSF launches campaign against Russia’s lack of free media

This Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) launched a campaign to shed a light on the lack of media freedom in Russia and to point out how Russian independent journalists are threatened by the Kremlin. Indeed, for RSF, Russia’s tight grip on free press will keep on existing even during this year's World Cup.

The campaign is supported by the use of a poster containing photos of seven journalists currently imprisoned in Russia. Moreover, RSF is sharing stickers, similar to the official Panini

US legislators forward law against doping practices

This Tuesday, a step towards the fight against doping was made in the United States with the proposal of the Rodchenkov Act. The proposal introduces criminal penalties for both US athletes and companies involved in the manufacturing, distributing, and using of performance enhancing drugs.

The penalties would depend on the severity of the offense and they would apply to all the major international sports events in which US athletes or US organisations participate. They could vary from a fine of

US legislators forward law against doping practices

This Tuesday, a step towards the fight against doping was made in the United States with the proposal of the Rodchenkov Act. The proposal introduces criminal penalties for both US athletes and companies involved in the manufacturing, distributing, and using of performance enhancing drugs.

The penalties would depend on the severity of the offense and they would apply to all the major international sports events in which US athletes or US organisations participate. They could vary from a fine of

United bid wins the hosting rights for 2026 World Cup

This morning, at the 68th FIFA Congress, the 203 FIFA members eligible to vote had to decide who will host the 2026 World Cup. There were only two bids to choose from; the combined bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada and the bid from Morocco.

The detailed election results show that the United bid defeated Morocco by a vote of 134-65; counting on the support from the Americas, Europe and Asia, plus few African countries.

The US has thus secured the country the opportunity to host the
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