Estonian NOC-president: "There is no democracy in sport"
Kersti Kaljulaid, the former president of Estonia, is now an outspoken president of the National Olympic Committee in her home country and a strong advocate for democracy in sports governance.
Is “democracy” just a buzzword in sports management? Or is it possible to turn the many promises made by sports leaders to bring more democracy to sport from paper into practice?
This issue was discussed during a session at the Play the Games 2025 conference in Tampere, where Kersti Kaljulaid, president of Estonia from 2016 to 2021, set the tone for the debate when she said:
“There is no democracy in sport.”
After the session, Play the Game asked Kersti Kaljulaid to elaborate on her critical statement and explain how her opinion has been received in the Olympic family, which she has been part of since October last year, when she was elected president of the Estonian National Olympic Committee (NOC).
“Well, in the UN, leaders make their speeches and contradict each other, and the journalists analyse who said what. But when you go to an international sports body meeting, it is very well orchestrated, there are no long speeches, and when people start to ask questions, the management really becomes nervous,” she said.
“People must start saying the king is naked”
If Kersti Kaljulaid is not happy about what she hears in such a meeting, she will tell the leaders of sports bodies like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) her opinion and ask them to arrange more interactive meetings.
“I have said this to Thomas Bach (the former president of the IOC), and therefore I also have a right to talk about it publicly. If I feel that we are not very open and welcoming to new ideas, I will keep saying so. Change can only be brought, if people start saying ‘the king is naked’. Otherwise, nothing will change,” she argued.
Growing up in a small country occupied by the Soviet Union, Kersty Kaljulaid was used to engaging in political debates that led to policy changes.
“Look, for example, at NATO or the EU, we finally get things done, and we don’t have the feeling that we are not heard. In politics, you are used to rough and tough debates because you have stakeholders who are very critical and never silent, and they demand that you look at the problems from various angles. I love these debates, because every problem has various angles,” she said.
The Estonian NOC president added that she is not the only member of the Olympic family who advocates for more democracy in sports governance.
“I am not exceptional. I speak in simple sentences, but every one of us on this panel said the same,” Kersti Kaljulaid argued with a reference to her fellow panellists Mark Pieth, Alex Marshall, Arnout Geeraert, Alex Phillips, and Stanislas Frossard, who all agreed that most sport leaders find it easier to promise democracy on paper than to implement democracy in practice.
“I voice my opinion freely”
When asked whether she has the support of the Estonian NOC to confront Olympic leaders about the lack of democracy in sport, Kersti Kaljulaid said:
“I am not confronting anyone. I just describe what I see, and I voice my opinion freely. And no, I don’t think that we should agree on talking points, vote them though, and then deliver them. I mean, this would be very boring. I don’t think that we should do things in this way.”
She also underlined that all members of the Estonian NOC are in favour of an open debate and noted that her background from national politics may help her create sentences that journalists like and understand.
“Did I say anything that my co-panellists didn’t say? No, but I don’t hide, and I hold all members of all sports organisations responsible. It is the responsibility of the membership to provide good governance. This is the only way to achieve good governance.”
So far, Kersti Kaljulaid hasn’t had the opportunity to discuss democracy and good governance with the new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, who also has a background in national politics as the minister for sport in Zimbabwe’s government from 2018 to 2025.
“But I will when I get the chance. She has promised that sports people will be heard more, and I believe that she will try to have a more open public discussion. And all people have the right to break the traditions, no matter where you come from. You can also learn from negative experiences, so I will not take a negative position before I have been able to talk with her and see what her plans are for the way forward”.
“Sport’s autonomy is an excuse to ignore the rest of society”
Unlike Kirsty Coventry, Kersti Kaljulaid does not have a background in sport, and she would like sport to be governed like the rest of the world.
“Absolutely. To me, sport’s autonomy is a very good excuse to say we are so special and therefore we have the right to ignore the rest of society. And my question is: why should the rest of society accept it? I don’t understand what sport’s autonomy means. There is no such thing as autonomy from the world around us,” she said.
“But autonomy is a very good cover, as one of my fellow panelists said. Autonomy means that you are not responsible to anybody. That’s why I was very impressed by this session, because these people who have studied sports governance for many years are saying the same things as I am after only one year as an NOC president, who is asking questions about why we do not have an open and democratic debate in sport.”
