“We need to modernise our governance structure" - said CIFP President
International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) President Sunil Sabharwal spoke about the future plans to sport intern, in the latest episode of the sport intern special podcast. /Click on the link to listen it./
“We need to modernise our governance structure, just like the IOC have done and many other sports organisations are doing and to be considering yourself to be amongst those.
Sabharwal laid out his plans which he intends to achieve in his new role at the helm of the organisation that seeks to champion fair play and sportsmanship in global sport.
Sabharwal, who stepped into the CIFP presidency replacing long-time leader Jeno Kamuti, hopes to shatter the Eurocentrism etched in the organisation’s history and globalise the CIFP, akin to the path the Olympic Movement has taken when it elected Kirsty Coventry as the International Olympic Committee’s first female and first African president.
With a new leadership at the helm, Sabharwal said in the latest sport intern special podcast that he is looking to expand the footprint of CIFP and establish itself as a leading organisation fostering fair play, ethics and sportsmanship, while also being more engaged with women, and welcoming more female and youth members into the council.
To kickstart this effort, the CIFP has begun its expansion with the establishment of Fair Play Americas that has already gained momentum with the securing of 501(c)(3) status in the United States, while discussions have already started on other continents.
The President said the ambition is to make the CIFP the first call of contact. “I want people to think, "‘okay, topics such as ethics or sportsmanship, we have got to call the CIFP.’ "So if I get to these things, globalise it, make us a centre of excellence, engage the athletes, then I will be very happy a few years down the road,” Sabharwal told sport intern.
With geopolitics shrouding global sport, however, Sabharwal intends to keep the CIFP’s focus on athletes amidst pressure from all parts of the world to respond to tensions, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, raising questions of fairness of the presence of athletes from aggressors.
Sabharwal told sport intern that the illustrious history of the CIFP is centred on the organisation’s mission to cultivate a sporting environment grounded on fairness and equal opportunity for all athletes.
“Geopolitics is not really where we are, certainly not today,” Sabharwal said on the podcast. “One can see which way it develops in the future, but today we want to remain very focused on the athletes and make sure that there's a level playing field for them.”
Source: sport intern
