Brussels defends the right of federations to decide “without discrimination” who participates in their competitions

Brussels – The European Commission defended on Tuesday the right of sports and cultural federations to decide “without undue discrimination” who participates in their competitions, and therefore does not contemplate promoting any initiative that leads to a boycott of Israeli entities in international events, as claimed on Monday by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

“We respect the right of sports federations and cultural organizations to decide on the composition of participants,” said the community spokesperson for Culture and Sports, Eva Hrncirova, who emphasized that such decisions must be made based on “objective and transparent criteria” and “without undue discrimination.”

In this way, the spokesperson indicated that the community executive “will not take any initiative” regarding Sánchez‘s call to reflect on a possible veto of Israeli teams in international competitions, because “it is the federations that must decide” in each case.

She also expressed Brussels’ support for “inclusion” in sports and cultural events and emphasized that “European values must always be respected both in the cultural and sports fields.”

European sources consulted by Europa Press remind that the competencies in sports and culture fall on the member states and, therefore, the Commission has no power to promote legislative changes or to interfere in each country’s ability to do so.

The role of European institutions in this regard, they emphasize, is to “support, coordinate or complement” the actions of the countries since the “autonomy” of the federations is a central element in the European sports model.

Condemnation for the cancellation of a concert by an Israeli orchestra conductor

Although the Commission has not yet commented on the suspension of the last stage of the Vuelta a España after pro-Palestinian protests denouncing the genocide in Gaza by the Israeli government, it has done so –through two commissioners– to condemn the cancellation of a concert by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra at a festival in Ghent (Belgium) because its conductor, the Israeli Lahav Shani, has not publicly condemned the genocide.

“Canceling the appearance of an artist at a concert solely based on their religious beliefs or nationality is a mistake,” warned the Commissioner for Culture and Sports, Glenn Micallef, in a message on social media last Friday upon learning of the decision of the Ghent festival.

Through the same channel, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, expressed being “deeply concerned” about the cancellation of the concert that the Israeli musician was supposed to conduct this Thursday in Ghent and indicated that he had asked the EU Coordinator for the fight against antisemitism to contact the authorities and organizers to “ensure that this does not happen again.” (September 16)