EPAS, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, held a webinar to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on sport, with the European University Sports Association also in attendance.

EUSA, a member of the Consultative Committee of EPAS which is governed by the Council of Europe, received an invitation to the webinar, which was held on Wednesday, October 7.

Speakers from various countries representing several sectors were invited to share their thoughts and expertise in the webinar, exploring how COVID-19 has challenged sport and how it could leave its footprint on how sport is practised and organised in future.

Panellists in the online discussions included Ms Snezana Samardzic-Markovic, Director General of Democracy at the Council of Europe; Mr Hoss Rafaty, Secretary General of World Taekwondo Federation; Mr Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of Sport Scotland (National Agency for Sport); Ms Wanda Wendel-Vos, Researcher from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Netherlands) and Mr Detlef Dumon, Executive Director of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICCSPE).



Several aspects of COVID’s impact on sport were discussed, including the social and financial impact on different sectors, the postponement of numerous events, the importance of sporting infrastructure for citizens, the drop in physical activity by youth in particular and the challenges of promoting sport, among others.

Positive outcomes emanating from the lockdown in various communities were also shared, while good practise examples were also discussed.

Following short presentations by each speaker, several topics were discussed in greater depth, before a handful of questions by participants in the webinar were answered.



For more information about EPAS, please visit https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/epas/.