24 February 2020: As a part of Global Athlete’s listening exercise, a survey was launched in September 2019. The survey resulted in 491 Athletes from 48 countries representing all continents from 40 summer and 16 winter sports providing feedback on athlete rights, welfare and representation.
Of the athletes surveyed 44% were actively competing with sport as their primary profession, 31% competing but not as a primary profession and 25% of the athletes were retired, 31% were Olympic Athletes, 8% Paralympic, 46% International level, 15% competed nationally.
Key outcomes of the survey included:
Athlete Welfare:
· Athletes rights are somewhat respected by the Paralympic Movement followed by the International Olympic Committee and the International Federations but more needs to be done.
· More work supporting athletes’ rights is required by sporting organizations.
· Verbal abuse, unfair team selection and the fear of retribution are the top concerns of athletes.
· More work needs to be done to offer athletes a safe place to report concerns.
· More support is required for mental health, sport career transition and ongoing medical care as well as retirement funds and financial planning.
· Para-athletes want to see classification rules improved.
Athlete Compensation:
· Athletes do not receive the appropriate amount of compensation from the International Paralympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee and National Federations followed by governments, National Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
· Athletes should have the right to build and sell their own brands at National Competitions and at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
· International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee and International Federations should pay athletes for attending their Games.
Athlete Representation:
· Athletes have a low level of representation.
· Athletes should have 50% of voting rights within sporting organizations on rules that are being developed that affect them.
· There is a need for collective independent athlete representation.
· Athlete committees should be independent of sport federations.
Global Athlete would like to thank the athletes, researchers, FairSport and Play the Game for their contribution to the survey.
A second report related to athletes’ feedback on the anti-doping system will be released in mid March 2020.
Download the report here.
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