Fair and safe sports

No.

Indicator (HTML-version in German)

Summary of results

4.1

Level and development of sport accidents and injuries

The number of sport injuries has been relatively stable since the 1990s but has risen sharply in 2003 (mostly due to the hot summer of 2003) to decrease again slightly in the four following years. Over the past few years there was another slight increase which might be mainly due to the continuing population growth in Switzerland.

The fact that there are substantial differences between different sports - football, ice hockey and basketball currently being the most "dangerous" sports - and population groups is the basis for specific prevention campaigns (e.g. in football or winter sports). Given constant rates of participants, these campaigns are expected to lead to a lower number of accidents eventually.

4.2

Accident prevention in sport

The number of persons wearing helmets and other safety devices while doing sports has risen sharply over the past few years. About 80 percent of all persons involved in snowboarding and downhill skiing are currently wearing helmets. Wearing helmets while biking has been stagnating at about 40 percent over the past few years, however, 

4.3

Violence and fairplay in sport

Contrary to a number of recent media reports, data from Swiss football suggest that the game has not become more unfair over the past ten years. Quite to the contrary: Currently, violent behaviour appears to be less frequent than it used to be some years ago.

4.4

Doping controls

The Swiss system of doping controls is well established and works well. Currently, about 2000 doping controls are being performed annually with about half of all controls being carried out "on-the-spot" as opposed to controls during contests. However, the rising cost of doping controls and analyses may cause problems in the future.

4.5

Doping prevention and information

Information on doping problems is available in different formats (brochures, books, web-sites) and has reached a high level of quality which is improved continually on the basis of systematic evaluation efforts.

4.6

Projects aimed at the prevention of drug abuse in sport

A number of projects aimed at preventing substance abuse and violence in sport has been started over the past few years. The most important among these programmes, "cool and clean", is aimed at young athletes and links sport-specific (performance, fairplay) with health issues (substance abuse, doping). By 2011 about 50'000 young people participated in the programme.

4.7

Environmental impact of sports

Sport affects the natural environment in a number of ways. In co-operation with the Federal Office for the Environment the Sports Observatory has started to measure and estimate different impacts. Currently, only estimates on the volume and the CO2-emissions of sport-related traffic and events are available. Sports-related traffic is estimated to amount to about 5 to 7 percent of total motorised traffic and to cause CO2-emissions of about 0.8 to 1.2 million tons per year.

4.8

Compliance of Swiss Sport Associations with the "Swiss Sport's Ethics Charter"

Swiss Olympic asks its member associations to spend a proportion of their funds to implement the "Swiss Charter for Ethics in Sport". First data suggest that the majority of all associations comply with this requirement.

4.9

Integrative effects of sports

With respet to the foreign population, the study "Sport Switzerland 2008" suggests that foreigners participate considerably less in sports than Swiss citizens. Data on further dimensions of integration in sports should become available in the next few years.