SOPROS | Assessing, Evaluationg and Implementing Athletes' Social Protection in Olympic Sports
Project Description
In recent years, several cases involving issues related to the social protection of elite athletes have made headlines and raised public awareness of these issues. Unfortunately, these headlines often refer to tragic accidents involving elite athletes, but issues such as pension payments, healthcare, and maternity leave have also entered the realm of Olympic elite sports governance. However, recent data from the EMPLOYS project show that social protection for many athletes in Olympic sports is limited across the continent. Most athlete-focused social protection systems rely on ad hoc collaboration and coordination between sports federations and public authorities. The actual roles and responsibilities of public and private actors in the practical implementation of social protection for athletes have not yet been clearly defined.
Recent policy initiatives at the transnational and European levels have recognized the need to raise social protection standards for athletes, e.g., the Council of Europe in 2021 and the ILO in 2020. Furthermore, athletes are increasingly positioning themselves as key actors in the Olympic Movement and are calling for greater involvement in decision-making processes that affect their lives both as athletes and as individuals. This highlights the importance of involving all stakeholders in elite sport who are responsible for regulating and implementing social protection for athletes.
Against this backdrop, the SOPROS project aims to promote integrity and values in sport by assessing, evaluating, and implementing social protection for athletes in Olympic sports. It can be understood as a deepening of the Erasmus+ EMPLOYS project in the area of social protection for athletes, which is one of the six core dimensions of labor relations for athletes in Olympic sports. It will build on the solid foundation and findings of the EMPLOYS project and take the next steps toward creating a framework for implementing concrete measures for athletes in the specific policy area of social protection. The project consortium includes four academic partners engaged in research and analysis of sports governance, sports policy, and sports law, as well as five policy partners with extensive expertise in athlete employment and social relations.
Research Period: January 2023 – December 2025
Declaration on Athletes' Social Protection and the SOPROS Partners' Commitments
The declaration on Athletes' Social Protection and the SOPROS partners' commitments constitute the summary of the joint learnings and takeaways from the SOPROS Project.
The Declaration translates the findings of of the SOPROS Evaluation Report into seven fundamental statements about athletes' social protection. The Declaration was jointly adopted as an outcome of a collective negotiation process among the project partners, meeting the criteria of social dialogue, and was signed at the SOPROS Final Conference in Brussels on 9 December 2025. It aspires to inspire policy action at various levels and by various stakeholders.
In addition, the SOPROS Partners enshrine their individual and joint commitments to supporting the implementation of athletes' social protection.
The declaration on Athletes' Social Protection is open for endorsement by public authorities, sport governing bodies, athlete organisations, employers, civil society, academic institutions, commercial actors, and individual athletes. The project partners invite you and all stakeholders involved in the regulation and implementation of athletes' social protection to endorse the Declaration and to formulate and enshrine institutional and personal commitments. Click the button below to endorse the declaration.
Current supporting parties
The European Athletes and Players Association (EAPA) commits to (December 9, 2025)
- supporting research, evidence-based policy-making, and the exchange of best practices to improve athletes’ social protection;
- engaging in social dialogue and collective bargaining, with full respect for freedom of association, to negotiate enhanced social protection measures for athletes;
- representing athletes’ views and interests in national and European policy-making processes relating to the design, implementation, and monitoring of social protection provisions;
- engaging in cooperation, education, and the sharing of best practices among its members to assess and improve athletes’ social protection and promote it as a human right.
The European Association of Sport Employers (EASE) commits to (December 9, 2025)
- ensuring that the outcomes of the project are disseminated among sports organizations, employers, and policymakers, strengthening their capacity to implement fair, sustainable, and coordinated social protection measures for athletes
- engaging in social dialogue and collective bargaining, with full respect for freedom of association, to negotiate enhanced social protection measures for athletes;
- representing the views and interests of sports employers in national and European policy-making processes related to the design, implementation, and monitoring of social protection provisions;
- promoting responsible employer conduct and advising sports employers on their duties and responsibilities in the funding and implementation of social protection measures.
The European Olympic Academies (EOA) commits to
- fostering awareness, education, and cross-border dialogue on athletes’ social protection through its network of National Olympic Academies;
- strengthening the link between European policy frameworks and national implementation processes;
- supporting inclusive approaches to social protection that recognize the diversity of athletes’ career paths and legal statuses;
- contributing to educational and communication efforts regarding athletes’ human rights, including their right to social protection.
CONIFA Asia and Oceania / Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) commits to (December 16, 2025):
- fully supporting SOPROS both in a personal capacity as a sports advocate and in an institutional capacity as President of CONIFA Asia;
- advancing the ideals and programs of SOPROS to benefit migrant communities, minorities, and women and girls in Europe;
Global Athlete commits to (December 16, 2025):
- strengthening athletes’ rights;
- collectively bargaining for those rights.
Social Innovation Sportshub commits to (December 18, 2025):
- advocating for the need for athletes’ social protection;
- supporting research and evidence-based policymaking to improve athletes’ social protection.
United Athletes commits to (December 18, 2025):
- continuing its commitment to better protection for athletes, their rights, and their status;
- acting consistently in the spirit of United Athletes’ motto, “for and by athletes.”
The Sports Association of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County commits to (February 3, 2026)
- implementing measures and actions to improve the status of female and male athletes at the European and national levels.
- Nikolaas Lambers (in a personal capacity) - December 11, 2025
- Roberto Dória Durão on behalf of the Portuguese Olympic Athletes Association (in his personal and institutional capacity) - December 16, 2025
- Yusufcan Keskin on behalf of Istanbul Rumeli University (in both a personal and institutional capacity) - December 16, 2025
- Gino Schilders (in a personal capacity) - December 16, 2025
- Ruby Ann Kagaoan on behalf of CONIFA Asia and Oceania / Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) (in both personal and institutional capacity) - December 16, 2025
- Rob Koehler on behalf of Global Athlete (in both personal and institutional capacity) - December 16, 2025
- Sikhumbuzo Ndebele (in a personal capacity) - December 17, 2025
- Dr. Geoffery Z. Kohe on behalf of the University of Kent (in both personal and institutional capacity) - December 18, 2025
- Rui Vieira (in a personal capacity) - December 18, 2025
- Bogdan Zdrojewski, MEP, on behalf of the European Parliament (in both personal and institutional capacity) - December 18, 2025
- Ricardo Carvalho on behalf of Social Innovation Sportshub (in both personal and institutional capacity) - December 18, 2025
- Ann-Sophie Duyck on behalf of United Athletes (personal and institutional capacity) - December 18, 2025
- AIP - Associazione Italiana Pallavolisti (institutional capacity) - December 19, 2025
- Ekain Zubizarreta (in a personal capacity) - December 27, 2025
- Oliver Schubert (in a personal capacity) - January 15, 2026
- Zoran Primorac on behalf of the Croatian Table Tennis Association (in both personal and institutional capacity) - January 23, 2026
- Blanka Vlašić (in a personal capacity) - January 23, 2026
- Romana Caput-Jogunica (in a personal capacity) - January 26, 2026
- Snježana Pejčić and Vlado Šola on behalf of the Croatian Olympic Committee (in their personal and institutional capacities) - January 26, 2026
- Bruno Erent (in a personal capacity) - February 3, 2026
- Katja Luketić on behalf of the Sports Association of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (in both personal and institutional capacity) - February 3, 2026
- Suzana Šop on behalf of the Sports Association of the City of Zagreb (in both personal and institutional capacity) - February 3, 2026
- Sandra Paović (in a personal capacity) - February 4, 2026
- Marija Anzulovic (in her personal capacity) - February 4, 2026
- Samir Barać (in a personal capacity) - February 4, 2026
- Barbara Đinović (formerly Matić) on behalf of the Croatian National Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission (in both personal and institutional capacity) - February 10, 2026
Project Report
Elite Athletes’ Social Protection in Olympic Sports in Europe: An Evaluation of the Status Quo
Authors
Prof Dr Jürgen Mittag, German Sport University Cologne
Dr Maximilian Seltmann, German Sport University Cologne
Lorenz Fiege, German Sport University Cologne
Leopold Hofmann, German Sport University Cologne
Prof Dr Vanja Smokvina, University of Rijeka
Dr Pawel Zembura, Institute for Sport Governance
Dr Luiz Haas, Sport Evolution Alliance
Dr Andrea Cattaneo, Edge Hill University
Publisher
Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies
German Sport University Cologne © 2025
Project Manual
Manual for the Improved Implementation of Social Protection for Athletes
Authors:
Paulina Tomczyk (European Athletes and Players Association)
Christophe Grognard (European Association of Sport Employers)
Prof. Dr. Manfred Lämmer, Bastian Grüger (European Olympic Academies)
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mittag, Lorenz Fiege, Dr. Maximilian Seltmann (German Sport University Cologne)
Dr. Andrea Cattaneo (Edge Hill University)
Dr. Vanja Smokvina (University of Rijeka)
Dr. Luiz Haas (Sport Evolution Alliance)
Dr. Pawel Zembura (Institute for Sport Governance)
Publisher:
Institute for European Sport Development and Leisure Research, German Sport University Cologne