Pyramid or Democracy? Alternative ways in European sports policies

09 August 2007

When in 2005 the draft of a European Constitution failed, sport was left without any article of its own and, thus, without a legal framework on the EU level. That is why the European Commission started a process to implement legal regulation of sports nevertheless. The first official document, the Independent European Sport Review 2006, however, followed problematic lines of interest and power. Focusing on the field of football, it assumed a ‘pyramid’ as ‘the European model’ and proposed a monopolistic structure for EU sports policies.

This has alarmed organisations of Sport for all, and International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) has called independent researchers to reflect the situation. The present critique is based on the Danish experience – the recognition of popular sports and the multiplicity of sport organisation. The alternative is between a hierarchical structure and democratic pluralism in sports policies.

The following article is a contribution to the discussion about a European White Paper of sports, 2007. An earlier version was published on the internet by the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA).

Please click to download Henning Eichberg's article, Pyramid or democracy in sports? Alternative ways in European sports policies

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Pyramid or Democracy? Alternative ways in European sports policies