On the June 20th 2024, EASE members were present in Utrecht (the Netherlands), in the WOS office, to hold the annual general assembly. 5 of the EASE members were represented, among which the General Secretary (Mr. Johnatan Kibebe, Sweden) and the Treasurer (Petri Heikkinen, Finland). Unfortunately, EASE chairman, Mr. Philippe Diallo, was unable to participate in this Assembly because of its mandatory presence with the French Football Team at the UEFA Euro 2024, in Germany.
EASE dutch member, « The Werkgeversorganisatie in de sport », hosted the General Assembly in their office in Utrecht. A welcome speech from the WOS representative for EASE, Mr. Jeftha Hanemaaijer, introduces the discussions.
The discussion began with a word of Laurent Martini, the Executive Director of EASE. He was very satisfied of the European activity of EASE, especially the conclusion of the European Social Charter for Sport Events project (with the Final Conference in Brussels on November 15th) and the deployment of the BeST Inclusion projet. The latter is very important to strengthen EASE expertise in the fields of gender, age and disability.
Then, EASE staff completed the activity report by mentioning the associated partner’s projects. The projects VERA, SOPROS and SEMASC are developing gradually and enable to improve EASE expertise. In the meantime, the EASE Talks aim to discuss the issues faced by the sport employers in Europe (the Super League project, the challenges in sport events) to identify new troubles and think about them. It is also extremely important to pursue the legacy of the ESCSE project, to make the Charter as concrete and effective as possible. Finally, the BeST Inclusion project is still pursuing in the next year : the consortium led by EASE will produce recommendations in order to improve the social considerations in the sport sector.
Under the watchful eye of the treasurer, the EASE accounts for 2023 were validated. Different political and budgetary trajectories were discussed, to find out how the EASE staff would renew itself and what ambition was needed for the association.
An EASE Talk led by the staff drew an EASE Talks : Overview of International Sport Events organized in European countries. Launched in April, this study has been concluded during the EASE Talk, and is now summarized in an infographics. The presentation during the General Assembly enabled to the Board members to discuss with two guests, Mr. Piotr Poplawski (Institute for Sport Governance, Poland) and Mr. Jan Skricka (Biathlon Czech Union, Czech Republic). Details of the EASE Talks will be announced in the next few days.
The guests also raised new issues for sport event organizers. New studies will be carried out on the basis of this EASE Talk, and will also contribute to the operational deployment of the European Social Charter for Sport Events.
Finally, the Board members contributed their ideas for the future of EASE and the issues that will be raised in the future.
