Joint review of Code for Sports Governance

13 Jul 2020 03:59 PM

The review will focus on areas that can help promote diversity, draw on experiences from the past three years and use current best practice to shape the new code.

Our Code for Sports Governance will undergo a joint review to look at areas where it would benefit from further development, including around equality, diversity and inclusion.

The review of the code, which is jointly produced by us and UK Sport, will begin immediately and cover three areas:

• Where the code would benefit from further development, including a substantive review of its elements that support equality, diversity and inclusion – particularly those that focus on the boards of sporting organisations, aimed at ensuring greater representation of people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, disabled people or people with a long-term health condition, as well as female representation
• A general review of other elements of the code, drawing on more than three years of experience of using the code and with more than 200 bodies now having been assessed
• A check against current governance best practice from other sectors, recognising that thinking may have moved on and further improvements found in sport and other sectors over the last three years.

Organisations the code applies to will be part of the wide and inclusive consultation, as well as other organisations involved in improving governance, diversity and inclusion.

With the review anticipated to be concluded within six months, our chief executive Tim Hollingsworth has welcomed the news.

"The Code for Sports Governance has undoubtedly pushed the standard of sports governance to a new level and been an amazing tool for reform, particularly where bringing about greater gender parity is concerned,” he said.

“However, we are more aware than ever of the work that remains to be done, particularly where equality and diversity at board and leadership level is concerned. 

"With BAME numbers at board and leadership levels quite rightly in the spotlight at the moment, this must not be another false dawn for addressing the racial inequalities that exist within sport, and the review of the Code for Sports Governance will serve as one of the key pieces of work on this front."

Click here for the full press release