European Parliament
A7-0385/2011
Anna Záborská  (PPE ).
(SK)
Mr President, I would like to take this opportunity to mention that Slovakia had a Commissioner in the previous election period whose remit included sport. Throughout the entire period, Commissioner Ján Figeľ assigned a significant role to sport in today’s Europe and was closely involved in keeping sport clean. I would like to quote from one of his speeches: ‘Sport develops the sort of values that European society needs, and it is a very powerful component in the formation of a democratic society. It has numerous positive elements, but there are also many negative aspects. Money is often a more decisive factor in sport than sporting performance. Problems such as violence in sports grounds, racism and drug-taking are cancers that destroy sport. Rules must be established to address these problems’.
I would also like to add that I am the honorary president of a women’s ice-hockey division, and I can confirm that equality of opportunity is still far from being a reality in sport.

