Amendments to the Sports Law were submitted by President Andrzej Duda to the Constitutional Court. According to the law firm, his doubts were raised by the method of selecting some of the new board members of Polish sports associations and the sanctions proposed by the legislature. According to the sports ministry, the goal of the new regulation is, among other things, “balanced gender representation in the bodies of Polish sports associations.”
President Andrzej Duda sent the amendments to the Sports Law to the Constitutional Court. The president raised doubts about the necessity of increasing the board of sports associations of Poland by a representative or representatives of athletes of the country's singles teams. Their selection was made by the players of the national team themselves, without going through the general meeting of the association's representatives. For every seven members of the board of the Polish sports society, there was at least one representative of the football players of the country's individual teams.
“In the context of questionable regulation, significant constitutional doubts arise as to whether the level of legislative intervention in the formation of the organizational structure of Polish sports associations is excessive and whether, without denying the need to introduce a “professional factor” in the structure of the governing bodies of Polish sports associations – this the result cannot be achieved in a less invasive way,” reads the message published on the president's website.
Moreover, as reported, the President of the Republic of Poland doubts the unconditional punishment provided by this act for non-fulfillment of the obligations of Polish sports associations to have a governing body and internal control bodies with gender equality. Mandatory member of a national team player. The punishment is to prevent the Polish sports association from funding or co-funding tasks from the state budget and state funds.
“While expressing the opinion that the idea of gender balance in the representation of Polish sports associations is correct and worthy of support, the President of the Republic of Poland also notes in the justification of the proposal that its implementation should be real and realistic. It cannot be confirmed that any its failure in life comes from bad will and must be be sanctioned automatically in the form of obtaining funds for the activities of the association for which it is intended. The lack of funding can lead to measurable and painful consequences, “said in the statement.
Amendments to the Sports Law
Amendments to the Sports Law were adopted by the Seimas on November 21. 247 deputies voted in favor, 22 against and 178 abstained.
The announcement on the website of the ministry refers to the “main points of the reforms”. This includes “balanced gender representation in the bodies of Polish sports associations (PZS)”.
The point is that “in management boards from 2 to 5 people, at least one woman and at least one man should be included in their composition, if there are more than 5 members of the PJSC, the representation of each gender should be at least 30%, similar rules are applied to internal control bodies;
READ ALSO: Changes in the Sports Law
The changes also envisage “support for pregnant and postpartum athletes”. As we read: “the participation of the representatives of the football players of the republic's single teams in the board of the PZS is guaranteed, the period of receiving the sports scholarship of the members of the republic's single team is extended from 6 to 12 months after the birth of the child; also – it will increase from 50% to 81.5%/ – the amount of the scholarship received during this period will be received by sportsmen as well as women who work full-time;
Main photo source: Piotr Nowak / PAP
