Ethics in soccer and rugby: How to measure it? How to develop it? The example of the E4S project

International audienceIntroduction : Sport is generally presented as a relevant way of promoting ethics, in particular for children and young adults. However, one is more often confronted in media with unethical behaviours, transgressing sports rules, than with fair play behaviours. An ambitious project named Ethics4Sports, co-funded by Erasmus + Programme of the European Union, has been conducted in order to target more specificand relevant forms of action. The aim of the project was to identify and implement ways of promoting ethics and fair play in grassroots sports and to ensure their effective enforcement. Methods : Four steps were identified:a) Evaluate what has already been done in different clubs (locally or more broadly);b) Consider how we can best evaluate ethical and unethical behaviour in sport and capture its manifestations;c) Present proposals to carry out these evaluations and identify needs within the sport structure investigated;d) Present some early results following these initial investigations. Several tools were then developed and tested in relation with clubs involved in ethics thematic.Results and Discussion : a) A preliminary online survey conducted with players of club implementing a charter and actions to promote ethics in sport showed that around 75% of those are aware of these actions and that the different ways of promoting are not so relevant;b) It appeared to us that the tools had to be adapted to the specificities of each sports organization. As a result, several types of tools such as short and easily transferable questionnaires for athletes, several types of actions to involve parents and help coaches, online training workshop, etc. have been developed;c) Satisfaction surveys for these different actions / tools have been proposed to allow their evolution over the long term.Conclusions : The tools proposed at the beginning of the project, and in particular the questionnaires, were thesubject of a progressive simplification to fully adapt to the very young public. Very positive feedbackshave been obtained about the various devices proposed but these generally require a stronginvolvement and specific skills within the structure, which can be problematic in small structuresversus large structures