UEFA welcomes European Parliament Resolution on EU sport policy

The European Parliament today adopted a comprehensive resolution on EU Sport Policy and called for action to protect European sport from the threat of breakaway competitions like the attempted European super league. Spearheaded by former Polish international football player, MEP Tomasz Frankowski, the Resolution was approved by an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament’s members from the 27 member states of the European Union.

UEFA welcomes the Resolution as an important step forward in the development of the European model of sport based on values, solidarity and sporting merit. The “Frankowski Report” includes specific and actionable recommendations across key issues including good governance, solidarity, gender equality, diversity and fundamental rights, integrity, grassroots, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

Moreover, the EU Parliament is unequivocal in its position as a major political institution of the EU on current major threats facing European sport. MEPs strongly and directly condemn breakaway competitions such as the so-called European super league project as undermining the values and principles of European sport and serving the interests of elites and profit only with no regard whatsoever to inclusive decision-making processes. The European Parliament also opposes recent proposals to hold the World Cup every two years, calling for sports organisations to respect the existing frequency of major international sporting events. It also calls on the development of European frameworks to modernise the player transfer systems and meet European specific needs, standards and objectives.

UEFA will work together with national football associations and major European football stakeholders – fans, players, clubs and leagues, to realise the resolution’s objectives and implement its recommendations. Sport governing bodies and European institutions must also continue to work as close partners towards European priorities, public policy objectives and social outcomes.

The report also “acknowledges the efforts made by sport organisations and federations to ensure the implementation of good governance principles in sport”. Against this background, UEFA has invited the leader of the resolution and Co-Chair of the European Parliament Sports Group, Tomasz Frankowski, to discuss his report with major European football stakeholders at the next plenary meeting of Convention on the Future of European Football in early 2022.

Commenting on the Resolution, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: “The European Parliament’s message on behalf of EU citizens is clear: Europe and Europeans fundamentally oppose breakaway projects like the failed European super league that threaten the values of European sport. European football is not a market meant to serve only elite interests and financial gains – it is a European success story that serves all of society. We will continue to work with the EU to strengthen and protect the European sports model in European football.”