The Right of Smaller States

He said that there are several agenda items for the ministers of the EU member states to be discussed, including the European sports model, which is a long-debated issue among the countries as it “contrasts the interests of larger and wealthier states with those of smaller and less wealthy ones”.

He also said that “the goal of competitions is that everyone should have the right and opportunity to participate in each type of international sports events”, underlining that smaller states must also be granted the right to qualify themselves even for the highest-level international events.

He emphasized that this goes hand in hand with the idea that they must not be excluded from the incomes of international sports associations, which are redistributed to member states.

Ádám Schmidt expressed his hope that the council conclusions about the preparation for large international sports events will also be accepted at the meeting.

He added that at the meeting – where Aleksander Ceferin, president of the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) also participates –, Slawomir Nitras, Polish Minister of Sport, will introduce the relevant program of his country, which will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the next term.