Toespraak van minister Schippers tijdens het EU Sportforum

Toespraak | 09-03-2016

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, thank you mister Mayor.

First let me get a misconception out of the way:

Reading the programme, some of you might have got excited. But I am afraid I am not the European Athlete of the year. Despite my last name, I am not even remotely related to Dafne Schippers. I hope this does not come as a disappointment…

But luckily, I am just as committed to sports as she is.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to The Netherlands. And I would like to thank the European Commission for hosting this important event.

Today and tomorrow, at this beautiful location, different worlds meet. Athletes, coaches, politicians, policy makers, researchers, activists, sports administrators. All with different backgrounds. All with different responsibilities. But all with one goal in mind: and that is a fair, clean and safe sport environment.

That is why we have put integrity in sport at the centre of our agenda, during The Netherlands presidency of the European Union.

Because if we allow our sports to get corrupted, we lose more than just fair play. We lose a part of our culture. We lose a part of our pride. And, even more importantly, our children lose their role models, their heroes, the ones that can teach them to make the best of themselves.

Integrity comes in different shapes and forms. It comes in different places. On the field, in fair play and by refraining from doping or match fixing. In the boardroom, in good governance and sound financing. And in an honest and transparent bidding process for the awarding of major sport events.

Recently we have been startled by scandals in each of these areas. Doping. Match fixing. Possible corruption. All a threat to the beauty of sports. Every incident is nibbling away at the integrity of sport.

Sport is emotion. Therefore integrity in sports is close to people’s hearts. People expect us to act! And the only way to act is together. We cannot sit on our laurels and wait for each other to act. We need to join forces. Each from our own responsibility.  

Each member state, each organization has its own way of working on these issues. Let’s take the opportunity here in The Hague to learn from each other’s best practices. Let's build new alliances and expand existing ones.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing a great sports year. The Olympic and Paralympic Games, the European Football Championships and, for us here in the Netherlands the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, with… Dafne Schippers!

As a sports lover, it is hard for me to stop talking about it. You might know the feeling. But luckily , there is time to discuss all these issues in depth later today and tomorrow.

For now I wish you a very fruitful discussion. I hope your experiences here in The Hague will inspire you to move forward in our joint battle for beautiful, clean and fair sport!

Thank you.