This section provides guidance on the policy and process by
which sports councils recognise sports and national governing
bodies of sport (
NGBs
) This information will
be useful to NGBs who wish to apply for sports council recognition
or for anyone with an interest in the way the recognition process
works.
Recognition is a joint policy operated by the four home
country sports councils:
- Sport England
- Sport Northern Ireland
- Sport Scotland
- Sport Wales
and UK Sport.
A list of the sporting activities and national governing bodies
that we already recognise can be viewed on
our website.
Under a new process introduced in 2010, applications for
recognition of a sport and a national governing body for that sport
are dealt with together.
Recognition of sports and national governing bodies is subject
to application. Applications must be approved by all the home
country sports councils, with the following exceptions:
- Where an NGB operates in a single home country,
recognition of the body requires the approval of that country’s
sports council only
- UK Sport also needs to approve applications where an Olympic or
Paralympic sport or NGB is being considered.
What is a sport?
The sports councils do not decide what is and what is not a
sport. There are many different opinions as to what constitutes a
sporting activity and the Sports Councils do not have their own
definition of sport. However, we operate a recognition process to
establish which sports we may consider working with. When deciding
whether to recognise a sport, the Sports Councils look to see if it
meets the Council of Europe’s European Sports Charter 1993
definition of sport and if the sport is well established and
organised within our jurisdiction.
What is a national governing body?
It is not the role of the sports councils to establish or
appoint national governing bodies.
NGBs
are typically independent,
self-appointed organisations that govern their sports through the
common consent of their sport.
The aim of the recognition process is to identify a single lead
NGB structure which governs a sport at UK, GB or home country
level.Our recognition criteria focus on establishing if a NGB
has achieved a position of pre-eminence within its sport and if it
has a reasonable level of organisation and governance. Sports
council recognition of a national governing body is not a guarantee
of funding and neither does it mean we have approved or accredited
the quality of its programmes.
Recognition does not bestow any official powers on a national
governing body to govern its sport.
Sports councils recognition application process
The recognition application process is divided into two
stages:
Guidance for applicants
If you are considering making an application, you should:
- Read the recognition policy as this contains essential
information which will help you when making your application.
- Download the
pre-application form.
- Complete this and return it to the sports council for the home
country in which your organisation is based. For England this is
recognition@sportengland.org.
For bodies based in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland should refer
to the Recognition sections on the relevant home country sports
council websites.
- If you have any queries relating to the pre-application then
you should contact us via the email address above or call us on
08458 508 508.
- Your pre-application will be considered by the UK Recognition
Panel and we will aim to contact you with the outcome within 12
weeks from the date we receive it.
- If you are successful at the pre-application stage, you will
progress to the full application stage. Before submitting your full
application, you will be required to meet with a representative
from the UK Recognition Panel to discuss your application and,
following, the meeting you will be provided with the full
application form to complete and return. You can
download copy of the full application form for information
only below.