Role and Importance of the Council of Europe in Providing the Development of Physical Culture and Sport

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the experience of legal regulation of physical culture and sport in the Council of Europe, to ensure the exercise of sports and other rights of citizens of its Member States in accordance with existing international legal standards, and to resolve sports disputes. To achieve it, the following tasks were formed: ‒ to analyze the evolutionary path of formation of normative and institutional instruments of international cooperation within the Council of Europe; ‒ to investigate the contribution of the European Court of Human Rights to the settlement of sports disputes; ‒ to characterize the areas of cooperation of Council of Europe member states, including Ukraine in the field of physical culture and sports relations. The methodology of the research is based on numerous methods and approaches for the analysis of the sphere of physical culture and sports, the study of the organization and functioning of international organizations. Therefore, dialectical and logical-legal methods, as well as comparative-legal, historical, systemic and structural-functional methods, legal semiotics, modeling and forecasting, etc. became determinants. The scientific novelty is to find out the role and importance of the Council of Europe as the first international intergovernmental organization in the establishment and implementation of legal standards for physical culture and sport. It is emphasized that the legislation of Ukraine has been significantly influenced by them, the need for streamlining and systematization. The Council of Europe opens up new fields of cooperation to Member States, including programmes and socio-cultural projects, as well as sports and physical culture (promoting democracy and the promotion of sport, ensuring gender equality in sport, combating corruption and manipulation etc.). Conclusions. The Council of Europe's activities since its inception in 1949 demonstrate the revitalization of the organization itself, its bodies and Member States in the development of the field of physical culture and sport. Its important role is emphasized not only at the regional pan-European but also at the international level, since in this field the coordination of various activities of the Council of Europe with the European Union, the UN, UNESCO, Interpol and Europol and others is noted. A large number of international legal acts attest to the organization's close attention to the violence and misbehavior on the part of spectators during sporting events, including football matches, the use of doping, manipulation of sports competitions, etc. They actually form the international legal basis for cooperation at the European level in the field of physical culture and sports. In our opinion, its main forms are law-making, enforcement, control, coordination and others. Thus, for a long time, it has been developing a number of initiatives in the field of physical culture and sports that promote democracy, cultural exchange and development, civilized sports competitions, protect the rights and interests of participants in these relations, and settle disputes in this field. At the same time, Council of Europe member states, including Ukraine, have significant obligations to implement international legal standards on physical culture and sport, to enforce relevant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, and to further cooperate.

Keywords: physical culture; sport; Council of Europe; international legal standards; European Court of human rights; conventions; implementation; member states.