A veteran of numerous major Games, including as Chef de Mission for Team Wales at Glasgow 2014, Brian Davies is all too aware of the issues facing the sporting world at both the elite and community levels.
Here, the Director of Elite Sport at gives his view on the work to tackle the challenges in Wales and why the Sports Ethics and Integrity Conference is an important next step.
This conference is focusing on issues that are relevant across the world of sport, not just for Wales or the UK.
Allegations of cheating, corruption and poor governance have become all too familiar in reports about the state of sport across the globe.
These issues matter, which is why it is imperative we bring them together to have an open debate on the challenges being faced and how we can tackle them in the future.
I think it’s important to point out that these issues aren’t exclusive to elite sport. Good governance, good practice and sensible policies impact on the running of sport at all levels. Elite sport often gets the focus of these issues, but it is important that they also have to be right at all levels of sport.
I will say that in Wales we are working hard to tackle the issues in conjunction with partners and other agencies such as the Sport and Recreation Alliance and Welsh Sports Association.
Collaborative working is key to success and this further partnership between and Swansea University to develop the conference is a sign that we can work across sectors, utilising skills, knowledge and resources for mutual gain.
Swansea University’s new masters in Sports Ethics and Integrity is a world-first innovation for sports administration and governance.
The conference is a great opportunity for the students to learn from world-class speakers and it is vitally important because the cohort will be key players in world sport in the future.
And there are other areas where Wales is doing good work. Examples include the Governance and Leadership Framework for Wales that has been adopted by our sports sector; the image and performance enhancing drug work and the ongoing link between sport and Public Health Wales; the anti-doping education work with UK anti-doping; and the national safeguarding in sport structure that is now in place.
These and other initiatives can be further shaped by this conference and the debate and thinking born from it.
Although the focus of this particular conference is on sport, the wider impact could be important for other sectors and for the well-being of future generations.
This is another step on the journey in this field for us in Wales and whilst we hope to be able to learn important lessons from others, if we can also impart some of our knowledge at the same time then this has got to be a positive initiative for all concerned.
To sign up to the conference, click here.
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