Project

BIG4SPORTS AIMS AT CONNECTING FUNDING SOURCES (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) WITH SPORTS ORGANISATIONS TO JOINTLY DEVELOP NEW AND INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION SCHEMES IN GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR SPORT.

CONTEXT

Co-financed by the European Commission in the frame of the Erasmus+ programme, BIG4SPORTS is a group of 9 sports’ organisations (clubs, clusters, institutions), launched in January 2019 and coordinated by the European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI). It aims at finding solutions to better connect public and private financial sources with sports’ organisations thanks to innovative programmes of good governance for sport.

This project will identify and develop best practices in favour of good governance within sports’ organisation in Europe, in particular clubs and grassroots sport. Ultimately the objective is to increase financial supports coming from public and private partners towards sports’ organisations.

BIG4SPORTS chose a collaborative and multi-sectorial approach, gathering public authorities, sport business stakeholders and sports’ organisations. The involvement of several sports’ clubs in the project will allow to guarantee the effective implementation of good governance schemes elaborated by BIG4SPORTS in live situation. In a second time, the group will work on communicating these schemes and best practices largely. Everything will be summed up in a final report due in June 2021.

Objective

Co-funded by the European Commission within the framework of ERASMUS+, BIG4SPORTS plans to reinforce the capacities of sport organisations in terms of good governance and financial integrity. The end goal is to improve sport organisations’ attractiveness by ensuring the highest standards in the management of sport. It will therefore increase public and private sectors’ trust towards sport stakeholders.

Sport is a dynamic sector full of opportunities (business, employment, education, social inclusion, health…), counting on a large diversity of stakeholders.

BIG4SPORTS can bring added value that could take European sport to the next level, abiding by exemplary ethics and sustainable management – key prerequisites towards modern development.

Method

The BIG4SPORTS project is built on the vision to combine capacity and knowledge across multiple sectors, including public authorities, the sport industry and sport organisations. This expertise is a key to identify and develop best practices to enhance good governance within sport organisations, particularly clubs and grassroots sports.

The project especially follows the guiding concepts of democracy, transparency, accountability and stakeholder representation. BIG4SPORTS is rounded in a partnership to closely support sport stakeholders improve their good governance schemes, their professional image and processes, taking best practices from the public and private sectors.

The team is indeed building on existing international frameworks related to good governance in sport, making reference, in particular, to relevant policies developed by the IOC, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA).

THE INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROJECT OF SEVERAL SPORT CLUBS WILL ENSURE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOOD GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS DEVELOPED BY BIG4SPORTS IN REAL SITUATIONS, IN VIEW OF A POSSIBLE ADOPTION ON A LARGER SCALE.

Milestones