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A collection of student stories and initiatives about sport.

This section offers access to a collection of toolkits to promote sport at school.

Physical Education Teachers They are the main point of reference for students at school
Teachers Teachers of all subjects can contribute to promote sport at school
School Directors Their support is a key element to promote sport at school
Resources A database of resources for teachers, PE teachers and school directors for the promotion of sport at school.

Sporting events are organised in each partner country

Sport Events Access the page with the sport events information

Guidelines for policy makers willing to raise awareness on the importance of promoting sport in schools

Information& Contacts

Physical Education Teachers

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They are the main point of reference for students at school

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Promotion of an ethical approach to sport, including communication strategies with parents

A Toolkit for Physical Education Teacher

6. Threats and challenges to an ethical approach in sport

Unfairness in sport is a serious and difficult issue that opposes the idea of the Olympic values and threatens the reputation of sport. Any form of cheating is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of honorable competition, breaks the implicit social contract athletes agree to obey: We are going to play by the rules, competition is going to be clean. Educators’ role is to teach young people that it is possible to become successful acting in compliance with the concept of fair play and principles of sports ethics. The attitude “winning is everything“ leads to unethical behaviours in sport e.g. cheating, intentionally distracting opponents, aggression, violence, using doping or even genetic enhancement. Young athletes should be encouraged by PE teachers to focus on skills, challenge and the joy of striving for excellence, rather than merely winning.
In this section teachers can find helpful materials about the topic, including some case studies of sports careers ruined by doping. That may be of high educational value for students since sports stars are role models for the young. An interesting example of athletes’ respectful and humorous attitude to other players, officials and fans is presented in the video providing a mix of handshakes during games.

Learning Objective

The learning objective of this topic is to provide a short overview of challenges that threaten the Olympic idea of fair play in sports competition as well as to present a destructive impact of doping on sports careers.

Online Resources

Doping in sport. What is it and how is it being tackled?A short review of the issue including basic info regarding a brief history of doping, a description of the most commonly used substances and how they are detected.
Drugs and sportThe article provides information about the medical effect of drugs on athlete’s mind and body.
Alcohol and athletic performanceThe article analyses the problem of alcohol in young atheles’ lives and its influence on their sport performance.
A History of Sports Careers Ruined by Drugs and AlcoholThe article provides some case studies of the sports careers ruined by drugs and alcohol.
Will genetic cyber-athletes come to dominate sports?This article considers ethical dilemmas raised by a vision of sports dominated by genetic interventions. It reflects on the issue of whether athletes should be allowed to use genetic techniques to improve their performance.
NBA Mix HandshakesThe video presents a number of sportsmen’s handshakes, introducing an element of humour to a sports competition which creates a positive image of athletes’ approach to rivalry.