State Secretary Roger Ingebrigtsen

9th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Sport

Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 30. – 31. May 2000

Mr Chairman,

First of all I would like to thank our hosts, the Slovak Government and the Council of Europe, for an excellent prepared and well organised Conference. The main themes reflect areas that constitute central challenges for both governments and sport organisations in a period of rapid change.

My contribution will focus on combating doping, and I will briefly comment on the other issues on the agenda.

Norway volunteered in 1998 to participate in an evaluation of the compliance of the Anti-Doping Convention. The Council of Europe’s evaluation report underlines, and I quote: The Norwegian system is a model for countries with similar traditions and structures to follow, and a source of inspiration for other countries.

Perhaps even more importantly, my country has followed up the recommendations of the Examining Group concerning a co-ordinated Action plan, which will be distributed at this Conference.

Furthermore, the Norwegian Government has begun preparation, in close co-operation with the Norwegian Olympic Committee, to establish an independent body responsible for disciplinary proceedings within our sport organisations.

What, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason for our positive results in the anti-doping area?

It is, first and foremost, a result of 25 years of joint work between the sports organisations and the Government. Both have put priority on this work, which is a vital premise for achieving common goals. This priority means that resources have been allocated to establish a structure, which comprises quality in procedures, standards and research. The Government has, throughout these years, contributed to stable financing of the anti-doping work with a total amount of approximately 2 mill USD a year.

In our view, a national basis is a condition to succeed internationally. A relevant international body has been missing. Such an agency must have authority, competence and independence.

It is my sincere wish that WADA should fulfil this important role. The International Olympic Committee can give WADA the necessary authority. The Council of Europe can contribute to this, and by revising the Anti-doping Convention to support the legal authority of WADA. The road ahead is not easy. I will warn you, dear colleagues, that the fight is not won only by establishing the agency alone. But it is a first vital step which the Norwegian Government fully supports. I recommend that the competence already established in a limited number of countries is used in the further development of WADA.

Finally, I will give some brief comments on the other issues of the Conference. Through seven years, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Norwegian Olympic Committee and local authorities have jointly supported a project in our bigger cities to recruit new groups into sport activities. And thereby contribute to their integration in the Norwegian society. The project has been independently evaluated and has received international recognition for its results. This shows that it is possible to get results in complicated tasks when resources and planning have a longer perspective.

A Study, co-financed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, has put focus on sexual harassment in Norwegian sport. The survey showed that on third of the female athletes had experienced some form of sexual harassment. The Norwegian Olympic Committee has a result drawn up a specific guidance to be followed among all in the sport organisations, including a basic code for coaches and leaders.

Although sparsely populated, the environment issue is becoming more and more vital in our country, the Ministry has therefore published guidelines for sport and environment, specially directed towards the constructing companies.

As a conclusion, the Norwegian Government will give full support to A clean and healthy Sport for the third Millennium. We request governmental as well as non-governmental bodies to put the recommendations given at this conference.