Dan Kersch, Luxembourg's Minister of Sport;
Credit: MSP
At the invitation of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Luxembourg's Minister of Sport Dan Kersch participated in today's videoconference bringing together EU Sports Ministers to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in the field of sport.
This meeting, in which European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, also participated, was an opportunity for the ministers to discuss the national measures taken to encourage the population to remain active during confinement and also to take stock of the training of athletes and on the organisation of sports competitions.
Discussions focussed mainly on the specific measures planned or already in place to support the sports sector, the means of ensuring the continuity of training for athletes and strengthening physical activity for citizens, while guaranteeing their safety and by limiting the spread of the virus. The ministers also discussed the main measures to be taken to successfully relaunch activities in the sports sector. Commissioner Mariya Gabriel informed the participants of her intention to organise a conference soon to continue discussing the consequences of the pandemic on the sports sector.
In his speech, Dan Kersch gave an update on the situation of sports activities in Luxembourg and presented the "aktivdoheem.lu" platform aimed at encouraging all citizens to stay active, even in confinement. He also argued that "financial support was necessary for small voluntary amateur sports structures, those whose annual budget is based on very low revenues, but on which their survival depends, and which they are deprived of today". He added: "If they are not supported, they will disappear and it is also an important social vector which could disappear in the aftermath of the crisis”.
Consequently, Minister Kersch called for the priorities set in the sports component of the Erasmus+ programme to be reviewed in order to free up funds which could be directly allocated to purely amateur voluntary sports structures.
