News item | 6/15/2023 | 12:30
Conny Helder, Minister for Long-Term Care and Sport, is working on a bill that will make sport in the Netherlands future-proof. The Sports Act lays down the responsibility for governments. The new legislation must also support the establishment of the independent integrity center for safe sport. In the next government’s term of office, the law may be supplemented with measures to increase accessibility and safety in sport, among other things.
Minister Helder: “Sport is of enormous importance. Not only because of the great social value, but also because it is fun and healthy. It improves your quality of life, regardless of your age. By laying down sport as a public responsibility in law, I want to ensure that it is placed higher on the agenda of the national government and municipalities.”
Core is local
In order to actually arrive at a sports law, the minister will start by defining the roles and responsibilities of various governments. The core of the sports policy lies locally: municipalities invest in sports facilities, support sports providers and, for example, offer neighborhood sports coaches. Municipalities can also decide themselves to seek cooperation with other municipalities. There is already cooperation between municipalities in many areas and the minister expects this to increasingly take place in sports as well.
At the same time, the ministry provides support where necessary: the minister could be given a legal task to set national sports priorities and to support sport in the policy of other departments. By enshrining it in law as a public responsibility, sport becomes a permanent part of the agenda of the various levels of government in the Netherlands. As an athlete, you know what to expect: you can assume that a number of matters are well organized and what role the government plays in this.
Integrity Center
Recently, there have been several studies into transgressive behavior in the sports sector. This led to the conclusion that there is a need for an independent center where all athletes can go with reports of integrity violations. By also supporting that integrity center in the law, it would be able to better perform essential tasks, such as the function of a reporting center and the careful processing of personal data. This makes it easier for athletes to go there if they are dealing with transgressive behaviour.
With the bill, the minister wants to harmonize national policy, local policy and sports agreements. At the same time, it seeks cooperation with other (municipal) tasks, such as education. In this way we utilize the social value of sport and increase its accessibility, affordability, quality and safety.