The University of Leicester is involved in a new international project to address challenges faced by many in the world of sport, including racism, sexism and the use of drugs.
The project, ‘Ethics4Sports’, also aims to produce an app for recording and reporting incidents during matches and inside sports clubs around Europe and will develop innovative mechanisms to promote ethical behaviour in grassroots sport by enhancing the capabilities and skills of sporting bodies.
The issues to be covered by the project include:
- Questions of fairness, inclusion and inequality (e.g. in relation to racism, sexism and disability discrimination in sport);
- Issues around the use of drugs in sport;
- Cheating and gamesmanship;
- Relations with game/match officials;
- Perceived divisions (if any) between professional and amateur sport in respect to ethics;
- Social & cultural variables that may impact on our understanding and perceptions of ‘fairness’
John Williams from the University of Leicester’s Department of Sociology and new unit for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Engagement (DICE) said: “This is an amazing opportunity to work with colleagues from across Europe in order to compare attitudes and practices in relation to ethical practice in local sport. Our sports specialism at Leicester will fit very well in this project. We hope to be able to identify good practice as well as looking at different perceptions of fairness in different cultures.”
John Williams recently attended the first meeting for the E4S project held on the City of the Sant Cugat, Spain together with representatives of EU public and private organisations.
On January 25 – 26 2016 the academics and practitioners from the Municipality Of Sant Cugat (Spain), Sant Cugat Creix (Spain), Scuola di Pallavolo Anderlini (Italy), ERC Iserlohn (Germany), University of Rennes (France), University of Leicester (UK), and AFC Barwell, Leicestershire (UK) recently gathered in Sant Cugat, just outside Barcelona, to begin the 2- year development of the E4S project.
