Ways Forward For Sport Leadership Discussed At #sibc

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Damian Collins MP gave honest and expert insight at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club this morning, exploring a number of the recent issues to hit the headlines, including FIFA, IAAF, London 2017 and Maria Sharapova.

Amongst a lively debate around bridging the gap between Westminster and sport, Grey-Thompson also revealed that she has resigned from her post as elite athlete director for the IAAF World Championships and IPC Athletics World Championships, to be held in London in 2017.

The 11-times Paralympic wheelchair athletics champion becomes the fourth official from the 2017 World Athletics Championships to resign from the London organising committee in the space of two months saying she felt her role was a “bit too tokenistic”.

Addressing the business audience at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club, supported by MP & Silva, the leading international media rights company, Grey-Thompson said: “I got to the point where I was going round in circles…I think my role was seen as ‘I can do the Paralympics stuff’.”

FIFA

Asked by James Pearce – sports broadcaster and moderator of the panel – whether FIFA was fit for purpose, Damian Collins MP replied: “No. And to say anything other than that would suggest that all that was required was to elect a new president. It’s just one of the necessary steps for reforming and changing the organisation.

“The challenge FIFA faces is not just implementing the reforms, but having external validation of those reforms, because the threats it faces are external – whether that’s the criminal investigations being led by the Swiss government and the FBI or the commercial partners, who will start to step back and not return until they are convinced the organisation has really changed.”

Grey-Thompson added: “The challenge for a lot of international federations is that over the years they’ve started to see themselves as above the law, because they have an amazing product that people love and are passionate about. They live on a lot of people’s hopes. Infantino now has a lot of challenges that Seb Coe has had in the last few months, separating the rumours and speculation from cold hard fact. He’s going to have a limited time to make changes, and it’s got to go all the way through the system.”

Sharapova

Following the news that former world number one Maria Sharapova has failed a drugs test, Collins commented: “She’s a huge role model for a lot of tennis fans and players, so it’s extremely disappointing and distressing. I suppose if we were looking for a positive it would be that it’s good tennis is prepared to confront an issue like this with one of its major stars. Now it has to be followed through and made clear that this will not be tolerated.”

Grey-Thompson added: “There’s part of me that gets hugely frustrated when someone gets caught, but then it can have a good impact. It has a good influence and has young athletes thinking again.

“However, the personnel around her should also be banned. Athletes can’t do this in isolation…there’s no excuse, the drug should have been on the banned list years ago. When I was competing we had a book and we travelled everywhere with it. She would have had enough people around her to make sure she wasn’t taking anything she shouldn’t.”

Rugby tackle ban

Following a question from the floor, last week’s news that more than 70 doctors and academics were calling for a ban on tackling in rugby matches was debated by the panel. In an open letter to ministers, they say injuries from this “high-impact collision sport” can have lifelong consequences for children.

Tanni Grey-Thompson disagreed, commenting: “Sport is dangerous. There are absolutely tragic things that happen, but I think the benefits outweigh the negatives. We just need to be sensible about it rather than just banning everything.”

Collins added: “It’s a physical game. But that physicality is about control and discipline. You’re asking them to learn how to use that strength but in a controlled way, and I think that’s a really good lesson.”

The future

The pair also used the opportunity to call on the industry audience to use their influence and access to make a positive change for the future through sport. 

Grey-Thompson added: “We don’t need to rush in to getting kids playing certain sports, but they should learn basic skills. There is some responsibility in schools, but parents also have a responsibility to bring their kids up to be active.

“My challenge to the The FA is that you have all these girls who want to play your sport, what are you going to do about it?”

Collins, asked by James Pearce what people can do to make sport a better place, concluded: “Back community sport. Use the power of your brands to inspire people in the communities, and when you see wrongdoing in sport don’t be afraid to speak out. One of the most frustrating bits about the FIFA controversy is the deafening silence from sponsors and commercial partners until Coca-Cola finally burst the dam. Your voice matters.”

The Sport Industry Breakfast Club is the industry’s number one networking event series with four content-led networking breakfasts over the course of the year. Each event welcomes up to 200 guests from across the industry for an interview with a panel of leading figures from the world of sport and business.

The next event on 8th June will see Judy Murray offer her expertise on driving tennis participation in non-traditional areas and increasing physical activity, commercial support for the game at all levels, ahead of a blockbuster summer of sport. Join the club now.