Cyprus Anti-Doping Authority Hosted the "European Week of Clean Sport" Partners’ Meeting

The Cyprus Anti-Doping Authority (CyADA) in collaboration with the Anti-Doping Organisations of Bulgaria, Poland and Portugal and EuropeActive, a European organisation for the promotion of fitness and physical activity, have been awarded a European Union grant to develop and implement the European Week of Clean Sport (EWCS). The grant was awarded following a successful application to the Erasmus+ Sport 2022 program of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency.  

The EWCS partnership will work closely with academic experts to design, implement, and evaluate the European Week of Clean Sport in Cyprus, Portugal, Poland, and Bulgaria. Similar initiatives have been developed in other countries, such as UK Anti-Doping’s Clean Sport Week, but it is the first time a European campaign for clean sport promotion will be deployed at this scale. The project will also complement international efforts to raise awareness about clean sport, such as World Anti-Doping Agency’s “Play True Day”.  

The European Week of Clean Sport targets doping in elite, amateur and recreational sport. The project partners will work closely with local sporting communities (athletes, coaches, national federations etc.) and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., schools, health authorities) to raise awareness and inform athletes and exercisers from different age and ethnic groups about clean sport and the harms of doping. Importantly, the European Week of Clean Sport will be developed and implemented consistently with best practices in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.  

The objectives of the project include:

• Assessing the needs of local sport stakeholders and sporting communities for the development of the European Week of Clean Sport.
• Identifying best practices and lessons from similar national and international initiatives (e.g., WADA’s Play True Day).
• Developing, implementing, and evaluating the European Week of Clean Sport across 4 European countries.
• Sharing policy and practice recommendations for the further implementation of the European Week of Clean Sport in other EU countries.

Dr Michael Petrou, President of CyADA and coordinator of the European Week of Clean Sport project said “We are grateful to the European Commission and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency for supporting this important initiative. Through this project, we aim to raise awareness about the importance of clean sport among athletes, the public and the community, in general. Our campaign will be designed to include everyone that can contribute to clean sport, from sport clubs and teams, the athlete support personnel (coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, etc.), as well as schools, universities etc. We are excited to work with our colleagues and their networks from countries participating in the project, and we look forward to successfully implementing the European Week of Clean Sport in other countries in the future”.