The fight against doping, violence in stadiums, match-fixing and shady deals by players' agents demands better-coordinated action at EU level, says a resolution passed by Parliament on Thursday with 550 votes in favour, 73 against and 7 abstentions.
We all know what happens at Olympics, an international competition of steroids,
not athletes. People feel well during the games, but feel miserable after the
games when they find out Olympics cost them ten times more than projected, and
most of it went to kickbacks of kleptocrats!
I, Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com, declare athletic competitions are not really competitions of athletes, but of
pharmaceutical companies and kickbacks! Every year new untraceable dopes show up
that bring gold medals. The current antidoping code includes the whereabouts
system, requiring athletes to select one hour every day to be available for
no-notice drug tests. But these tests cannot find out the brand new drugs. Many
governments subsidize these million-euro drugs as food supplements of their
athletes! http://venitism.blogspot.com
"The Lisbon Treaty's entry into force brought about a revolution in sport by creating the first legal basis for this area, Article 165", said rapporteur Santiago Fisas Ayxela (EPP, ES), in the debate preceding the vote.
MEPs call on the EU to identify and eliminate all obstacles likely to prevent girls and women from doing sports. They underline that parents' prohibiting immigrant girls from taking part in sports and swimming at school cannot be tolerated or excused on cultural or religious grounds. Better representation of women in sports governing bodies - in proportion to the number of licensed members - could help to promote female participation in sport, they add.
More than ten thousand East German athletes were doped in a program that ran for
decades up until 1989 with approval from the highest levels of the East German
government. Many were given the pills as minors. Three million tablets of
performance enhancing drugs, mostly anabolic steroids, were given out each year
to athletes. Many later developed cancer, ovarian cysts, liver damage, heart
disease, infertility and other ailments. Some had children with health problems,
such as blindness or club feet.
East German coaches, trainers and parents would watch as their young daughters
suddenly exhibited unusual amounts of body hair, bulked up rapidly, and
developed deep voices. There was a joke running around that when women Olympic
swimmers would go into the changing room and see East German girls there, they'd
say, oh my God, we must be in the men's locker room!
http://venitism.blogspot.com
Despite the near cartoonish appearance of some of their athletes, the doping
program delivered results. From 1972 to 1988, East Germany of 17 million people
won 384 Olympic medals, not including the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which they
boycotted. They always placed well ahead of the much larger West Germany.
Parliament asks that supporters who are known to be violent or to engage in discriminatory behaviour be banned from all European stadiums. A European data base should enable national authorities to ensure that the ban applies to any international matches played on their territory. MEPs also call on Member States and sports governing bodies to commit to tackling homophobia and racism against athletes.
To protect athletes better, MEPs suggest that trafficking in illegal performance-enhancing substances should be treated in the same way as trafficking in illegal drugs. To combat match-fixing, money laundering and illegal betting, MEPs ask that any fraudulent activity be treated as a criminal offence and that a licensing system be put in place for betting operators.
The profession of sports agent should be regulated and subject to a proper official qualification, say MEPs. Agents should have their fiscal residence within the EU and undertake to abide by a code of conduct in order to obtain a licence.
The resolution proposes setting up a European register of agents, which would also list the players for whom they work. Agents' fees for transfers should be paid in instalments throughout the duration of the players' contract, rather than as a lump sum at the time of the transfer, MEPs add.
National authorities should ensure that young athletes are able to pursue normal school and higher education studies in addition to their sports training. European recognition of their qualifications and athletic experience should encourage athletes and trainers to take part in exchange programmes on the Erasmus model, MEPs add.
Smart words are more effective than smart bombs! Mighty words of a charismatic keynote speaker can transform your people to a new dimension of organizational climate, efficiency, self-actualization, enthusiasm, belonging, and motivation. I would like very much to speak at your conference. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com
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