Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has a process for designating an activity as either a sport or a game.

The Government’s arm’s length body (ALB) for grassroots sport, Sport England, has a process for recognising activities. The objective of the recognition process is to identify sports that Sport England may wish to work with and the national bodies that govern them. The process is run jointly with the other three Home Country Sports Councils and UK Sport.

When deciding if an activity can be recognised, the Sports Councils refer to the definition of sport contained within the Council of Europe’s European Sports Charter. This states that:

“Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels.”

As an example of this process, the English Chess Federation made an application for recognition in 2008, but this was turned down as the Sports Councils did not consider chess to be a physical activity. Therefore, it did not meet the Council of Europe’s definition.