SPORTS POLICIES OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: BULGARIA, ROMANIA AND CROATIA

Abstract

This study deals with the sports governance systems of the European Union and its member states, the existence of sports law, the ministries responsible for sports and the sources of sports funding. In particular, it aims to identify and evaluate whether the member states of the European Union have a common sports policy and law and the nature and structure of their policy systems. The sports systems of 25 EU member states have been associated with four configurations in some studies, and the remaining 3 countries have been placed in accordance with these four structures by conducting a detailed literature review. Among the EU member states, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia's contributions to sports as governments, sports policies, sports laws, ministries responsible for sports and sports financing sources were examined. In this research, qualitative research method was used by conducting a detailed literature review. As a result of the research; it has been determined that the majority of EU member states are dominated by bureaucratic structure among the types of sports policies; 24 EU countries except Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have a sports law applied in sports; the main source of financing of sports is mostly the state and local governments play an active role, and then betting and lottery revenues, rarely donations and volunteering contribute to the development of sports.