HOST CITY: How has the influence of women on sports administration developed throughout your career?

Liz Nicholl: I have held positions at national level in sport for over 30 years, and when I started out the industry was male-dominated and the voice of women in sport was rarely heard.

My breakthrough came as a young CEO of England Netball in the 1980s; my national leadership role placed me in an environment where I was able to see that I was just as good as the majority of individuals in similar, significant roles. I gained confidence from colleagues and I now say to others “Don’t hold yourself back. If someone you respect thinks you can do it, you can!”

Over the years I have seen some progress but it’s been slow. The need for diversity in leadership is now much more widely accepted in business. Change is happening in sport but it is slower and held back by tradition.

At a government level, ministers are more outspoken on equality matters and more people are listening. This national profile and debate is ensuring that the momentum is increasing but there is still a long way to go.

There are now more role models and more signs of change. Baroness Sue Campbell was Chair of UK Sport for over 10 years and now across the five UK, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland government agencies for sport, four or the five CEOs are women.

HOST CITY: How successful is the sports sector at boosting women's representation at executive / senior management level?

Liz Nicholl: When I look across the cohort of CEOs and chairs of National Federations of sport, there are a relatively small number of women – but we are seeing a shift at board level.

There is an expectation placed on funded sports by UK Sport and Sport England that all sport boards should be made up of at least 25 per cent women by 2017. Currently over 90 per cent of the sports we fund have women Board members and the UK Sport Board is made up of 40 per cent women.

HOST CITY: What still needs to be done to make further progress?

Liz Nicholl: We need more women in coaching generally and especially at a high performance level. We are looking into what some of the barriers might be while at the same time providing and a programme to support athletes, with an emphasis on women athletes, transitioning into coaching.

The biggest challenge is the limited media coverage of women’s sport. Better, balanced media coverage would unlock enormous potential and sponsorship and could massively increase the momentum for positive change. We will be hosting the Women’s Hockey World Cup in 2018 and have ambitions for other events to shine the media light more specifically on women in sport.

Personally, as a woman working in an influential role within British sport, I know there is more I could be doing to keep this issue visible and to challenge where I see inappropriate inequalities and I am determined to do so.

Liz Nicholl OBE is the Chief Executive of UK Sport. To read the full interview, register to receive the next issue of HOST CITY magazine

[Source: ASOIF] The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) today released a position paper titled “The solidarity model of organised sport in Europe and beyond - A stable platform for collaboration”, aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the role International Federations (IFs) play in the global organisation of sport, and to a more informed debate on its future.

Primarily addressed to public authorities in Europe and beyond, sport organisations and the business sector, this paper was developed against the backdrop of ongoing discussions at European level on how to best safeguard values-based sport while IFs regularly face challenges to their operations, including proceedings and lawsuits in various territories. In particular it aims to provide a proactive and constructive response to the Resolution on the key features of a European Sport Model recently adopted by the European Union’s Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council. The Resolution asks the sport movement to support the key features of a European Sport Model which reflects the worldwide solidarity model of organised sport. It also calls upon the sport world to further explore and continue ongoing discussions with all stakeholders and acknowledge the diversity of approaches and new developments across different types of sport, in line with values-based organised sport.

ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said about the new position paper: “In our ever-changing world, the relevance of sport keeps growing. Every day, new stakeholders become involved in the sport sector. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it renders the role and activities of IFs, and the Olympic Movement at large, more complex. This situation also makes it more urgent to safeguard the values of the solidarity model of organised sport while still embracing progress and new ideas. I am convinced that the two can go hand-in-hand.”

He emphasised: “However, public authorities, sport organisations and the world of business must all work together if we want to tap the full potential of sport. Our paper aims to go beyond declarations, setting out solutions that we believe are fast, solid and sustainable.”

The document explains the role and diversity of IFs as worldwide governing bodies of their respective sports; it outlines the solidarity model of organised sport and details its key features; and it looks at other models of sport organisation, recent trends and developments which keep transforming the world of sport, providing both opportunities and challenges. The proposed framework at the end of the paper contains clear commitments on how IFs, public authorities and commercial entities can work together efficiently, expanding on the recent reflections of the European institutions and beyond.

Click here to download the document.

[Source: WAoS] The proposed programme is aimed at anyone interested in international sports management and innovation, and is intended to be delivered through the University of London’s distance and flexible learning offer. The distance learning section of the University has 51,000 students studying in 180 countries on more than 100 study programmes, and with a further 1.4 million learners on its MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), making it the world’s largest classroom.  

Dr Mary Stiasny OBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) University of London, said: “We are delighted to be working with the World Academy of Sport which, like the University, has a global reach. Our work together aims to provide access to training opportunities for those in the industry as well as for those wishing to enter the sporting profession and related fields. The University prides itself in continuously innovating and delivering programmes that are in demand from both its students and employers alike.

“We appreciate the significance and the growth of this global sporting industry, which has an estimated value of some US$600 billion per annum, making it one of the most successful sectors in the world,” she added.

WAoS specialises in providing customised education to the world’s sporting community and its International Advisory Board Chairman, Francois Carrard, said: “Our work with the University follows a successful pilot with Royal Holloway, University of London. I thank Professor Paul Layzell, Principal of Royal Holloway, for the smooth transition to the University of London, and the opportunity to explore making high quality training available across the world. This move will allow us to continue to grow and support the international sporting industry. With many changes taking place in the sporting sector from media convergence to e-gaming and social media, provision that focuses on ‘international sport management and innovation’ will be very welcome.”

Chris Solly, Director of WAoS, stressed the importance of combining a local sporting context with the global picture in all aspects of sports management. He added: “Local partnerships with communities and, most importantly, with youth are critical to the long-term growth and future success of the global sport and major events industry. We are therefore delighted that the University of London has agreed to work with WAoS to develop this important provision.”

Further details on this unique development will be provided in October 2018.