MANUAL SPORT ENVIRONMENT

most of their habits in order to make them more environmentally sound.
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Responsibility of athletes
All sportsmen and sportsw omen, w hether elite or occ asional athletes, belong to the
planet and as s uch have a respons ibility to reduc e their impac t on the environment in
their daily liv es. A degraded environment affects them direc tly inasmuch as it
threatens their performances and, ultimately and more importantly, their health and
even their lives.
A genuine concern for env ironmental issues should therefore be show n, and a
leaders hip role in env ironmental protection should be adopted through a c hange of
attitude and the promotion of environment-friendly sport. Whether mere village
play ers or full-fledged champion performers, all athletes c an have a signific ant
influenc e on the c ommunity. Through their special position and ex emplary conduct,
they can conv inc e sportsmen and sportsw omen and partic ularly youth, to adopt
env ironmentally s ound behavior.
Responsibility of coaches and m anagers
A major res ponsibility lies w ith coaches, w ho are able to influence the spirit and the
manner in w hich sports men and sportsw omen behav e and perform. Athletes w ill
inev itably respond to the attitudes and values of their c oaches. This obs ervation does
not apply solely to top-level athletes and teams. All persons ass uming a role of
leaders hip in sport hav e open to them a privileged channel enabling them to
communicate bas ic environmental principles to youth and contribute to their
educ ation.
Responsibility of spectators
Sport attracts spec tators w hose influence on the env ironment should not be
neglected. When they respect the env ironmental advic e given by organiz ers, such as
avoiding w aste clumping and using environmentally-s ound means of trans portation,
they demonstrate through their behav ior a commitment to preserv e the environment.
Collective responsibilities
Org anizat ion al responsibilities
Being aw are of environmental problems is the first step tow ards being able to solve
them. A lthough the development of their sport is admittedly the primary objectiv e of
all s ports organizations belonging to the Oly mpic Movement, w hether complex and
structured bodies s uch as the International Federations, National Olympic
Committees, National Federations, or simply local clubs and associations , all such
organiz ations hav e to seek to enc ourage environmentally s ound and soc ially
responsible attitudes tow ards sus tainable development. When planning a sports
event, be it a major championship or s imply a local competition, s ports organiz ations
can decide to fos ter new attitudes by integrating them in their educational
programmes or office management practices . Such attitudes may also form part of a
separate environmental programme of education and aw areness-raising, based on a
predefined set of actions w hich are appropriate to the needs of a partic ular
community and w hich w ill w ork in a s pec ific area. In that s ens e, eac h sports
organiz ation and s ocial group c an, in its ow n w ay, contribute to generate among all
play ers of soc iety - consumers, industries, local communities, s ports organizations,
gov ernmental ins titutions, etc. - a s ense of c ommon purpos e.