SOPROS - Assessing, Evaluating and Implementing Athletes' Social Protection in Olympic Sports

The aim of this cooperation partnership is to promote integrity and values in sport by assessing, evaluating and implementing athletes’ social protection in Olympic sports. Recent academic work and ongoing public and sport-specific debates highlight issues around the social relations and socio-economic situation of elite athletes in Olympic sports. Many of the addressed issues pertain to matters of social protection of athletes and policies usually addressed by the modern welfare state. Among others, these include insufficient pension schemes and payments, health insurance coverage and only slowly emerging pregnancy and maternity protection policies. This cooperation partnership brings together academic experts and umbrella organisations of the key stakeholders involved in the regulation of athletes' welfare to: 1) assess the currently fragmented social situation of elite athletes; 2) evaluate this specific situation at national and European level; 3) implement precise measures of social protection, and 4) negotiate and pilot future ways of collective cooperation and dialogue. In an inclusive and deliberative process, the project will thereby improve good governance in sport by strengthening the social relations of athletes as the key stakeholder of the European Sports Model. With its 13 carefully designed deliverables, including three Self-Assessment Tools, three Reports, one Manual, three Workshops and three Conferences, the project will reach to a wide audience in the stakeholder community and inspire sustainable policy change.