On December 1, the European Commission organised the traditional #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards Gala, this year held virtually.

The event was moderated by Ms Honey Thaljieh, champion for peace and sport, recipient of the beinclusive sport award of the previous year.



The participants were first welcomed by the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mr Mariya Gabriel, German Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community Mr Stephan Mayer and Chair of the CULT Committee of the European Parliament Ms Sabine Verheyen.



The #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards recognise organisations and initiatives using the power of sport to increase social inclusion for disadvantaged groups. This year, 181 applications were received for the awards and 9 projects made it to the shortlist.



Short videos of the finalist were presented, complemented by the interviews with #BeInclusive EU sport award winners from the previous years. All of the finalists are champions in building a more inclusive, cohesive society in and through sport, and can be seen as inspiration.



The online event also offered a sports-cultural programme and at the end of the evening, the three winners for 2020 were announced: Surf ART (Portugal), INtegrative Championship (Poland) and Ovale Citoyen (France).



We are very proud and happy to see the University Sports Association of Poland (AZS) among the award winners. With its integrative championships, focusing on inclusion of students with disabilities, they showcase a good practice of inclusive and integrated approach in university sport. AZS and its initiative will also form part of the Inclusion in Sport (iSport) project, which the EUSA Institute is coordinating.

For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/sport/be-inclusive