Governing Body Recognition

Sports Council NI Home Page >> Recognition of Governing Bodies

Last Updated: Tuesday, 05 September 2006

Policy on Recognition of Sporting Activities and Governing Bodies of Sport

Recognition is a jointly agreed Home Nation Sports Councils and UK Sport process to determine for the Sports Councils, what is a sporting activity and establish which organisations govern the sporting activity on a Home Country and UK basis.

The recognition policy and processes have been revised over the last year to ensure their relevance to sport in the 21st Century.

The recognition policy operates in two stages:

Stage 1 is the recognition of a sporting activity – this must be agreed across the five Sports Councils in the UK;

Stage 2 is the recognition of the governing body for the sport. This recognition can be at two levels:

the recognition of a governing body for the sport at a UK or GB level – which will be considered by all the Sports Councils in the UK*;

The recognition of a governing body for the sport within England, Northern Ireland/Ulster, Scotland or Wales – which will be considered by the relevant Sports Council for that country.

*It should be noted that recognition of a UK body does not automatically mean that any Home Country Branch of that body will be recognised by the Home County Sports Council - an application will have to be made by the Home Country governing body to the relevant Sports Council.

The principles behind recognition are as follows:

1. The Sports Councils are keen to promote the efficient administration of sport and therefore will endeavour to link new sporting activities to existing sporting activities where reasonable;

2. The Sports Councils will recognise ONE governing body per sport as the lead organisation for the governance, control and development of the sporting activity;

3. Where the Sports Councils are currently recognising more than one governing body per sport, the Councils will pro-actively encourage amalgamation over the period April 2006 – March 2009. From April 2009, the Sports Councils will normally only recognise ONE governing body per sport.

4. The recognition of a sporting activity or governing body of sport does not necessarily mean eligibility nor entitlement to Sports Councils investment.

5. Recognition of a governing body does not mean that the Sports Councils have approved or accredited the quality of the governing body’s management or development programmes. Such issues will be taken into consideration as part of any investment process.

6. Whilst this revised policy will apply to all recognised sporting activities and governing bodies, the Sports Councils do not intend to undertake a review of every sporting activity or governing body currently included on the Sports Councils’ recognised list. However, individual activities and governing bodies will be reviewed where a need is identified.

7. The Sports Councils reserve the right to review this policy at any time.

For Further details on the recognition process including recognition criteria, please click on the links below or alternatively contact one of the Sports Councils.