Sport and Inequality Policies
A claim running through the history of modern sport has been that it is an arena where people can play largely unconstrained by inequalities of the wider society. Sport is special, according to this discourse, because all players are required to follow the same rules, and consequently sport is inherently fair. A second, related, assertion has been that sport has a distinctive capability to undermine some of the inequalities found in societies by, for example, closing social and economic distances between people, enhancing knowledge, skills and understanding, and creating a sense of empowerment and a change in the locus of control in the lives of marginalised groups. Accordingly, the widely held belief that sport is a special setting, a level playing field, with an inherent power to transform individuals and communities can be found in countless policy documents and programmes. Whether these claims are valid or of courses is a different matter.
Sport is now well-established as both a tool and context of social policy, and there is a sense of an acceleration of its recruitment to social policy. With this acceptance has come a demand that claims on behalf of sport need to be more specific, measurable, and realistic if they are to remain accepted features of policy. Even politicians have recognised the need for something more substantial than rhetoric, as was expressed by the Former British Minister Tony Blair when he enthusiastically endorsed the use of sport so tall of social policy, but it did add the caveat that anecdotal evidence that sport is good for you was no longer enough.
Perhaps the most visible international policy statement of the supposed benefits of sport is UNESCO’s International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport adopted in 2015. Surprisingly, the 1978 version of the Charter made no mention at all of equality (although it did refer to more hard-to-pin-down concepts, such as social progress, and the development of fair play, which is essential not only to sport itself but also to life in society. The revised Charter, in contrast, was explicit in its insistence of both claims made of equality in sport, especially gender equality: as an equal setting, e.g., Equal opportunity to participate and be involved, at all decision-making levels … is a right of every girl and every woman that must be actively enforced, and as an equalising setting, e.g., sport must be organized carefully and thoughtfully in order to realize successfully the potential for promoting ethical and educational values such as equality, fair play and honesty, excellence, fun and joy, teamwork, commitment, respect for rules and laws, respect for self and other participants, courage, community spirit and solidarity.
The development of the inclusive, and in particular the gender inclusive approach can also be tracked to other inter-governmental organisations. The Council of Europe adopted the first European Sport for All Charter in the 1970s, emphasising an inclusive approach to sport and physical activity, stating that Every individual shall have the right to participate in sport. The most recent advancement has been the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on Gender Mainstreaming in Sport. Acknowledging all the developments on an international policy level, it recognised that gender inequality is de facto still present. To address this issue the harmonised, comprehensive effort on all levels of institutions and actors were called to be implemented.
There is an obvious urgency for policy in sport on different levels to challenge inequality. Various interest groups have been more or less successfully advocating for changes, and those changes are slowly to be realized. However, now that some policies are in place, their suitability and efficacy need to be examined honestly, and, potentially adapted.
A question to the readers of this issue of ICSSPE News is how best to influence governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in sport, physical activity and physical education to develop or reflect on their existing policies for equality in sport. What are the mechanisms for challenging social inequality in sport, physical activity and physical education? Who are the key stakeholders? What are the main policy drivers?
We invite all ICSSPE members and other audience to submit their thoughts to icsspeicsspe.org
- About ICSSPE
- Scientific Resources
- Scientific Resources
- Free Resources
- MINEPS VI (English)
- Programme Committee General Documents
- Working Group Members
- Meeting Reports and Presentations
- Manual for the Working groups
- MINEPS Sport Policy Follow-up Framework
- Developing a comprehensive vision of inclusive access for all
- Align with the overall development priorities and the SDG framework
- Establish multi-stakeholder partnerships
- Foster quality physical education and active schools
- Foster the inclusion of youth in decision - making processes
- Enforce gender equality/Empower girls and women
- Foster empowerment and inclusive participation
- Maximising the contributions of sport to sustainable development and peace
- Improve health and well-being for all, at all ages (SDG 3)
- Provide quality education and promote lifelong learning for all (SDG 4)
- Advance gender equality and empower all women and girls (SDG 5)
- Promote economic growth and full and productive employment and work for all (SDG 8)
- Build peaceful, inclusive and equitable societies (SDG 10 & 16)
- Make cities and settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11)
- Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns and take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 12 a
- Build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (SDG 16)
- Protecting the integrity of sport
- Poster Exhibition
- Glossary
- MINEPS VI (Français)
- Membres des groupes de travail
- Rapports des réunions et présentations
- Manuel groupes de travail
- MINEPS cadre de suivi stratégique
- Domaine stratégique principal I
- Assurer la cohérence avec les priorités de développement durable
- Établir des partenariats multipartites
- Favoriser l’éducation physique de qualité et l’activité physique à l’école
- Appliquer l’égalité des sexes/autonomiser les filles et les femmes
- Encourager la participation des jeunes aux processus de prise de décision
- Favoriser l’autonomisation et la participation globale
- Domaine stratégique principal II
- Améliorer la santé et le bien-être de tous, à tous les âges
- Rendre les villes et les établissements humains inclusifs, sûrs, résilients et durables
- Offrir une éducation de qualité et promouvoir l’apprentissage continu pour tous
- Assurer la croissance économique et le plein-emploi productif pour tous
- Bâtir des sociétés pacifiques, inclusives et équitables
- Promouvoir l’égalité des sexes et autonomiser les femmes et les filles
- Assurer des modes de consommation et de production viables et prendre des mesures urgentes pour lutter contre le changement clim
- Bâtir des institutions efficaces, responsables et inclusives à tous les niveaux
- Domaine stratégique principal III
- Protéger les athlètes, les spectateurs, les travailleurs et autres groupes impliqués
- Protéger les enfants, les jeunes et d’autres groupes vulnérables
- Promouvoir la bonne gouvernance des organisations sportives
- Renforcer les mesures contre la manipulation des compétitions sportives
- Fournir un cadre de politique antidopage approprié, assurer sa mise en oeuvre et proposer des mesures d’application efficaces
- Exposition d'affiches
- Glossaire
- Declarations about Sport
- High Performance Sport
- Physical Education
- Toolkit: Influencing the Development of Quality PE Policy
- Policy Brief: Inclusive Quality Physical Education Policy Development
- Sport Values in Every Classroom (FR)
- Sport Values in Every Classroom (EN)
- International Position Statement on Physical Education
- International Benchmarks on Physical Education
- Berlin World Summit
- Magglingen World Summit
- Schulsport weltweit: Fakten – Analysen – Trends
- Worldwide Physical Education in Schools Update
- Sport and Development
- Physical Activity
- Other Free Resources
- Bulletin Archive
- No. 71 PDF
- No. 70 PDF
- No. 69 PDF
- No. 68 PDF
- No. 67 PDF
- No. 66 PDF
- No. 65 CD-ROM
- No. 64 CD-ROM
- No. 63 CD-ROM
- No. 62 CD-ROM
- No. 61 CD-ROM
- No. 60 CD-ROM
- No. 59 CD-ROM
- No. 58 CD-ROM
- No. 57 CD-ROM
- No. 56 CD-ROM
- No. 55 CD-ROM
- No. 54 CD-ROM
- No. 53 CD-ROM
- No. 52 CD-ROM
- No. 51 CD-ROM
- No. 50 CD-ROM
- No. 49 CD-ROM
- No. 48 CD-ROM
- No. 47 CD-ROM
- No. 46 CD-ROM
- No. 45 CD-ROM
- No. 44 CD-ROM
- No. 43 CD-ROM
- No. 42 CD-ROM
- No. 41 CD-ROM
- No. 40 CD-ROM
- No. 39 CD-ROM
- No. 38 CD-ROM
- No. 37 CD-ROM
- MINEPS VI (English)
- Olympic World Library
- Upcoming Events
- Membership
- Media