Contenu du sommaire : L'administration du sport

Sporting Organisations and the European Union : Between Deregulation and the Quest for New Rules. Sport has grown up as an autonomous activity with its own rules, defined by the International Sports Federation and recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There is no reference made to sport anywhere in the European Community Treaties. Consequently, the appearance of the European Union at the centre of the regulation of sport may seem surprising. While, since 1974, the European Court of Justice has intervened in sport to the extent that it ‘constitutes an economic activity', it was not until 1995 and the Bosman decision, that minds have really turned towards the development in recent years of the economic and commercial aspects of sport when practised at the highest levels. Moreover, the by-products of this development (violence, drug-taking, the unstoppable domination of the richest clubs) have revealed the insufficiency of the rules laid out by sporting federations and the IOC. It is against this background that a Declaration was signed by the member states of the European Union at the Nice summit in December 2000 concerning the specific characteristics of sport.

The French Sport Model. France constitutes an original model of sport, which is mixed system with state interventionism and private initiative.

The Genesis of Public Policies on Sport. The French Example. Relations between the French state and sporting activities have differed depending on the historical period under analysis. It was not until after the First World War that the political milieu began to take an interest in sport. State action encouraged sporting activities to the extent that they provided proof of French greatness. Since 1936, the state has possessed the means to intervene in sporting movements which, for their part, have sought to claim their own autonomy. This interventionism was suspended under the Vichy regime and the position arrived at during that era was not really called into question following Liberation. Since 1958, the state, in its guise as protector, has extended its domain to sporting activities with the creation of an Administration for sports comprising a number of services. Nevertheless, since 1981, decentralisation has meant the disengagement of the state in favour of local authorities to the extent that a question might be posed today as to the utility of a Ministry for Sports.

Reform of the Organisation of Sport in Italy. An analysis of the content of the new regulation shows that the decree does not just provide for a simple reorganisation of the Italian National Olympic Committee (INOC), but rather, sets out a wholesale reform of the organisation of sport in Italy. In fact, the criteria relating to the composition of the committees which direct the federations and the INOC have been substantially modified with provision made for direct participation by athletes and technicians and with changes made to the nature and organisation of the federations including the redefinition of their spheres of autonomy and the public interest aspects of their activity ; and to the functions and, above all, the internal structure of the INOC with the aim of bringing about modernisation and increased efficiency. Thus, the premises for a complete transformation of the organisation of sport in Italy are set out in order to go definitively beyond the strict state-based approach which has prevailed hereto.

The Administration and Organisation of Sport in the United Kingdom. Right from the start, the organisation of British sport has resulted above all else from private initiatives on the part of sportsmen and women wanting to fix the rules relating to their disciplines. However, the United Kingdom came late to the organisation of sporting competition and has turned towards the models in place in other countries to perfect its own system. Nevertheless, in spite of developments which have led to increased state intervention in the organisation of sport, it still remains very much based upon voluntary principles.

Sport in Germany : a liberal Model of Relations between Public Authorities and Sporting Organisations. The organisation of sport in Germany rests above all with clubs and federations. Given their large degree of autonomy, the development of sport is largely beyond the remit of the state. However, a change is in progress which is gradually weaving new relations between public authorities and sporting organisations. As the place of sport in society grows, the Länder have tended to develop a form of financing for sporting activities ; in the same way the federal state has put into place a number of public policies aimed at promoting sport at the highest level. In this way a real administrative organisation of sport has been constructed which is founded on the cooperation of a number of different bodies ; it reflects the existence of a liberal model of relations between public authorities and sporting organisations.

The Public Financing of Sport in France and in Europe. Justification and Points of Comparison. The amount of public money which is dedicated to sport certainly relates to the wealth of a country, but it represents above all a political choice which, moreover, depends upon the standing of the sporting community. Public powers, therefore, intervene in two respects : they finance sport, on the one hand, as part of the education system and, on the other, as a leisure activity for sportsmen and women in general. While initiated by States, policies relating to sporting infrastructures are presently organised at the local level.

The Necessary Economic Regulation of Professional Collective Sports or Things Which Have Remained Hidden since the Foundation of the Sporting World and Economic Science. Sporting competition cannot prosper in a liberal economic universe. In the United States of America a form of regulation has been put in place by different sporting organisations and concerns the allocation of financial resources to clubs (notably television rights) and the allocation of salaries (with the ‘draft'and ‘salary-cap' systems). The objective is to maintain a degree of uncertainty which ensures public satisfaction together with the economic success of the sporting industry. As for France, the regulatory mechanisms which have been set up are no longer appropriate, given the strong movement in the last ten years towards deregulation — and more specifically deregulation linked to the European Community, illustrated by the Bosman case in 1995. It is necessary, therefore, to try out a new form of regulation.

Professional Sport ‘à la française', a Possible Inspiration for a Future European Model ? In France, the State has intervened in sporting matters since the 1940s, according to a technique of delegation of power to private organisations, i.e. sporting federations. France has not adopted legislation specifically relating to sporting professionals, notably in the context of their working relationships, in a situation, moreover, where European influences have had the effect of limiting the degree of autonomy for intervention by each member state, including in the area of sports. Where the State does intervene in France it does so in the name of public policy which includes economic factors (such as intervention in the structure of professional clubs and in relation to resources, notably television rights), individual factors (such as defending the individual) and social factors (such as the status of sporting agents and that of youngsters who practise sport).

Remunerated Teaching of Physical and Sporting Activities in the Member States of the European Union : the Process of Constructing a Europe of Professionals. Due to the Community principle of free movement, sports trainers may carry out their profession in another member state. However, it seems that the exercise of this freedom is thwarted by the diversity of national regulations. Of course, this situation is attenuated by the mutual recognition of professional qualifications which encompasses three aspects : a regime of presumption of qualification without compensation being possible in the case of a non-equivalence of diplomas ; an academic equivalence ; and the general system of recognition of professional qualifications. It is, however, necessary to harmonise qualification systems : sports organisations are, moreover, participating in such a movement.

Public Intervention in the Area of Drug Taking. Public intervention in the area of drug taking is just one aspect of a wider movement towards public involvement in the field of sports. This intervention has, first of all taken the form of random initiatives. Some States, including France, have adopted legislation with a variety of not necessarily compatible solutions, while the Council of Europe's efforts have, for a long time, been largely marginalised. The European Convention of 16 November 1989 has opened up a phase of coordination, with the intervention of the European Union and the setting up of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Sport and Public Policy : the Prevention of, and Fight Against, Violence at Sporting Events. While the violence of football supporters — known as hooliganism — is its most widespread form, spectator violence also occurs at other kinds of sporting events. In particular, the development of other forms of violence during matches taking place in certain sensitive urban areas deserves to be highlighted. This kind of threat to public order and the security of people and property has led to reactions on the part of public authorities, as much at the national as the European level (Council of Europe and the European Union).

Sport in International Relations. The growing universality of sport has made the role of international relations in this area more and more important. The real significance of having recourse to international relations as an instrument of diplomatic action is, however, very variable, in the same way as is its influence on the relations between States and their peoples. With the emergence of policies of cooperation and development aids, sport has been considered an important area for their application. The diversity of actors who take part in these policies has led State administrations to set up new partnerships in order to take their policy on sport forward, in particular with the extremely powerful sporting organisations such as the International Olympic Committee.