THE Government of Guyana (GoG) on Tuesday released a draft of the National Sports Policy Draft which is available in wide circulation online.

According to a release, the policy forms part of the sensitisation of laws governing sports, and it is a rallying point of discussion with the GoG calling on stakeholders to peruse and provide responses on the blueprint.

The National Sports Policy, one of the promised implementation made by the ‘Coalition’ government leading up to the 2015 General Elections, has finally been made public after a steady outcry by various stakeholders in sports.

A release from the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday stated that further feedback is invited on the National Sports Policy Draft, generated between November 2016 – June 2018, based on research, reviews, consultations and analysis as chronicled in the document, and taking a comprehensive approach to the development of sports in Guyana.

Notable areas of focus include historical and philosophical narratives; vision & mission; fundamental and guiding principles; national, regional and internationally applicable laws; collaboration among national agencies on sports programmes and projects; sports governance, administration, management, organisation, education and educational institutions, medicine, financing (funding, sponsorship, incentives), tourism, manufacturing, intellectual property rights; elite athlete development, the media, overseas offices, Diaspora support, and anti-doping.

The National Sports Policy is an implementation requirement of the National Sports Commission Act, 1993, Cap. 39:14-5(d) whereby “… the function of the Commission to … encourage the conduct of sporting activities in accordance with the national policy on sports”.

“Sports policies are international best practice tools used in regional and global territories to regulate local agencies and exercise the full potential, and capacity, of the nation’s sports sector,” the government said in a release.