Sport diplomacy : identifying good practices : a final report executive summary to the European Commission.
Date: 2018-01-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: EU financing, aid to refugees, gender equality, integration of people with disabilities, international relations, physical education, report, social integration, social role, sport, sporting event, sports body, sustainable development, young person

Sport Diplomacy: Identifying good 
practices 

final  report  executive 
A 
summary  to  the  European 
Commission 

December 2017 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture 
Directorate C – Innovation, International Cooperation and Sport 
Unit C.4 – Sport  

E-mail:  Eac-sport@ec.europa.eu  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Sport Diplomacy: Identifying 
good practices  

A final report executive summary to the European 
Commission 

written by  

2018 

  EN 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer 

This  document  has  been  prepared  for  the  European  Commission;  however,  it  reflects  the 
views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which 
may be made of the information contained therein. 

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 

ISBN: 978-92-79-77792-9 
doi: 10.2766/879708 

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Executive Summary 

The  Directorate-General  for  Education,  Youth,  Sport  and  Culture  (DG  EAC)  of  the 
European Commission commissioned Ecorys in October 2017 to undertake a rapid review 
of good practice projects in the context of the  European Commission’s  Sport Diplomacy 
priority. 

Background 

The  concept  of  sport  diplomacy  at  the  EU  level  was  introduced  by  the  European 
Commission  in  2015.  The  High  Level  Group  on  Sport  Diplomacy,  which  was  created  in 
2015  at  the  request  of  Commissioner  Navracsics,  delivered  a  Report  with  several 
recommendations  in  June  2016.  Following  this  work,  Council  Conclusions  on  Sport 
Diplomacy were adopted by all the EU Ministers responsible for sport in November 2016. 
The  European  Union  Work  Plan  for  Sport  (2017-2020)  acknowledges  the  need  to 
cooperate with third countries, in particular candidate countries and potential candidates 
to  the  EU,  to  promote  European  values  through  sport  diplomacy1  and  invites  the 
European Commission to carry out the present study.  The EU’s sport diplomacy agenda 
has also raised specific questions regarding the ways in which the EU could support the 
use of sport as a tool to support external relations. 

Aims and methodology 

The key objective of the study has been to identify good practices, supported at national, 
European  and  international  level  in  sport  projects  having  an  international  dimension, 
namely involving non-EU Member States as well as projects which contributed to building 
a stronger position of a country on the international scene.  

The  good  practices  research  has  comprised  two  main  elements.  The  first  has  used  a 
systematic  search  approach  to  identify  the  good  practice  case  studies.  The  desk-based 
review to identify relevant projects has incorporated a rapid review of relevant websites 
including websites of  national sport agencies,  national sport federations and NGOs. The 
searches  have  also  covered  national  development  agencies  and  other  non-sport 
organisations  that  might  support  such  projects.  Examination  of  the  above  sources  was 
supported  by  rapid  web  searches  in  various  European  languages  focused  on  various 
countries  using  relevant  key  word  search  terms  to  identify  additional  information.  Over 
50 projects and initiatives were identified in the searches. From this list, a final shorter 
list  of  good  practice  case  studies  was  agreed  to  ensure  a  good  spread  of  sport  for 
development themes.  In order to complete the case studies, short telephone interviews 
were  completed  with  relevant  organisational  contacts  in  order  to  fill  in  any  gaps  in 
project  information  and  obtain  qualitative  perspectives  on  project  outcomes.  The 
telephone discussions also provided additional perspectives on the best practice features 
of the interventions and lessons for wider application (including transferability).  

A  secondary  element  of  the  research  was  to  conduct  a  mapping  exercise  to  identify  EU 
funding sources that could potentially to support external relations. 

1  The  Resolution  of  the  Council  and  of  the  Representatives  of  the  Governments  of  the  Member 
States,  meeting  within  the  Council,  on  the  European  Union  Work  Plan  for  Sport  (2017-2020). 
Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:42017Y0615(01) 

5 

 
 
 
                                           
Key findings 

The  case  study  research has highlighted particular projects where the skills, knowledge 
and  expertise  of  Member  States’  sports  federations  and  NGOs  have  been  applied 
successfully in countries  outside of  the  EU. The good practice projects cover a  range  of 
themes  including  disadvantaged  young  people,  disability,  gender,  health,  refugees,  and 
major events.  

The  evidence  demonstrates  the  potential  for  international  sport  projects  to  have  a 
positive  effect  on  the  relationships  between  the  countries  involved.  From  the  limited 
number of case studies a number of particular features can be highlighted with regard to 
the political and diplomatic aspects of the projects: 

  High  level  political  engagement  between  the  Member  State  and  the  third  country 
partners  has  been  used  to  generate  interest  and  engagement  in  the  project  at  the 
local level. 

  Some  projects  align  directly  with  the  emerging  priorities  of  the  Member  States’ 
international  development  objectives  and  therefore  support  the  funding  country’s 
wider international development and diplomacy efforts. 

  Some projects have a strong focus on engagement with high-level stakeholders (for 
example,  sport  and  education  ministries)  which  enables  the  projects  to  support  the 
development  of  sustainable  structures  that  meet  the  longer-term  objectives  of  the 
partner countries. This approach is highly valued by stakeholders in third countries.   

The more detailed case study research has also highlighted a number of  key lessons in 
the delivery of international sport for development projects that could be relevant to the 
funding,  design  and implementation  of  ongoing  and  future  programmes.  Broadly,  these 
particular lessons include: 

 

It is important to understand how the knowledge and skills of the EU Member States 
in the area of sport can be applied to meet the particular strategic objectives of the 
third countries and the challenges they face.  

  The  most  successful  projects  have  a  strong  focus  on  the  capacity-building  and 
upskilling  of  organisations  in  third  countries,  helping  to  ensure  the  long-term 
sustainability of the project approaches.  

  Major events can be used to harness interest and engagement in international sport 

for development initiatives.  

Through a review of relevant EU funding sources, it is evident that there is potential for 
EU  funding  programmes  to  support  sport  for  development  projects  that  involve 
partnerships  between  EU  Member  States  and  third  countries.  A  mapping  exercise  has 
identified a number of relevant EU funding sources.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Recommendations 

This  short  research  exercise  provides  evidence  and  insights  in  understanding  the  types 
of  sport  for  development  projects  that  could  be  supported  by  the  EU  in  helping  to 
achieve its external relations objectives. This section sets out a number of recommended 
actions that could be taken to further promote the EU’s sport diplomacy agenda.  

It  is  recommended  that  capacity  building  workshops  are  held  that  aim  to  develop 
knowledge on the potential for sport for development to be used as a tool to enhance the 
EU’s external relationships.  The first workshop  could focus  on developing knowledge on 
the specific barriers sport organisations interested in development and diplomacy  might 
face in accessing relevant funding at the EU level and how these can be overcome. The 
workshop  could  be  attended  by  representatives  of  leading  sport  for  development 
organisations.  In  order  to  develop  mutual  understanding,  the  target  audience  for  the 
second workshop could be non-sport organisations including European Commission DGs 
responsible for programmes with third countries.  

Building  on  the  capacity-building  workshops,  it  should  be  ensured  that  sport  for 
development is identified as an explicit priority in relevant EU funding instruments. 
This should be supported by an accompanying guidance document that contains detailed 
information on relevant programmes such as application process, eligibility criteria, etc. 
linked to good practice projects.  

Building  on  the  approach  adopted  for  this  study,  it  is  recommended  that  larger  scale 
research  is  undertaken  on  the  current  state  of  play  in  the  EU  with  regard  to 
international  sport  for  development  practices  and  best  practice  projects  (drawing  on 
systematic  evaluation  of  evidence  and  also  primary  research  with  stakeholders).  The 
research  could  focus  on  understanding  the  political  and  diplomatic  benefits  of  sport  for 
development  interventions  supported  by  the  Members  States  and  the  EU  and  how 
benefits can be maximised by building upon best practice success factors. 

It  is  also  recommended  that  actions  are  developed  to  support  dissemination  of  and 
knowledge  sharing  on  good  practice  projects.  This  could  include  European  level 
conferences  held  on  an  annual  or  biannual  basis  that  allow  projects  to  present  their 
approaches  and  good  practice  features.  International  sport  for  development  could  also 
be included as a regular topic in events such as the annual European  Week  of Sport or 
EU Sport Forum. The potential for sport for development could also be promoted through 
regular newsletters and publications targeted at the development sector. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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ISBN: 978-92-79-77792-9