Team Ireland European Games 2023 Nomination And Selection Policy

The European Games take place in Kraków, Poland from the 21^st June – 2^nd July, 2023.

As the recognised National Olympic Committee for Ireland by the International Olympic Committee and European Olympic Committee, the Olympic Federation of Ireland is responsible for the final selection of athletes for Team Ireland at Kraków 2023.  This document outlines clearly to athletes and all stakeholders the full process of the nomination of athletes by the NF and final selection by the OFI to Team Ireland.

This document is subject to the terms and conditions of the European Games 2023 Qualification Guide. All sport specific nomination policies must be read in conjunction with the Kraków 2023 EOC and IF Qualification Guide for that sport.

The Olympic Federation of Ireland shall publish the document containing all nomination policies in its entirety no later than December 31 2022 subject to the publication of the EOC/IF Qualification Guide having occurred. Each National Federation shall publish the general policy section with their sport specific policy prior to this date.

DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS

1. NOMINATION & SELECTION PRINCIPLES

The nomination and selection of the athletes to represent Ireland at the Kraków 2023 European Games will be conducted in accordance with the following underlying principles:

1. 1. Performance – The nomination criteria for each sport are designed to identify those athletes most likely to perform to the highest level at the Games. It is understood that in some instances, an NF may set performance standards that are higher than the minimum qualification standards set by the IF.  NFs are encouraged to do this where they feel the minimum qualification standards of the IF are at a lower level than the performance expectations of the sport nationally.

1. 1. Quota Places – The decision to accept quota places will be made jointly by the NF and the OFI. In line with principle 1 ‘Performance’, a decision may be made not to accept all quota slots if athletes do not meet the performance standards set by the NF. The official acceptance or rejection of an allocated quota place in writing is the sole responsibility of the OFI.

1. 1. Transparency, Clarity and Communication– The nomination and selection policy of each NF must be clear and well communicated within a reasonable timeframe to all athletes and coaches to ensure that all stakeholders understand it.

1. 1. Objective decision making – Where possible decisions of Nomination Committees should be based on objective, measurable criteria. Where subjective criteria need to be included such as within teams or pairings, the process for this must be clearly explained to all stakeholders and the rationale for final decisions outlined in the Nomination Meeting notes.

1. 1. Fairness – The Nomination process must be fair and operated without bias or prejudice.

1. 1. Age – The OFI does not set a minimum or maximum age requirement. The age requirement will be in accordance with IF rules for each sport [see sport specific criteria/eligibility].

1. 1. Universality / Re-allocation place acceptance – In sports where Universality Places are awarded or Re-allocation Places offered, the following criteria will apply:
      1. the decision to apply for such an athlete or team quota slot, will be jointly determined by the NF & OFI.
      2. The OFI will only consider nominations for awarded individual universality or re-allocation quota slots on the basis of the athlete meeting either (a) plus (b) or (a) plus (c) from the following criteria:
         1. The athlete has not competed at a previous European Summer Games.
         2. The athlete has achieved a minimum performance standard as per the sport specific criteria agreed with the NF.
         3. The athlete has not had the opportunity to qualify through the normal qualification system due to injury, pregnancy, nationality dispute etc.
      3. The OFI will only consider nominations for awarded team universality or re-allocation quota slots if the team has achieved a minimum performance standard as per the sport specific criteria agreed with the NF (each NF Nomination Policy will clearly state what they consider a Team).

1. 1. NF and OFI Approval – All Nomination Policies must be approved in writing by the relevant NF Board and the OFI prior to publication.

1. NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

The nomination and selection of athletes to the 2023 Irish European Games Team will result from a graduated process of checks and balances to ensure the agreed criteria are applied correctly and to provide extra assurance to athletes that their selection is confirmed by a robust process. The subsequent steps in the process are as follows (the timelines are sport specific and clearly documented within the relevant sport sections):

Step 1: The Irish Qualification period closes.

Step 2: The Nomination Committee convenes and applies the agreed nomination criteria for the sport. Athletes are informed of their pre-nomination status.

Step 3: Sport specific appeal period including internal NF appeal process and external SDSI appeal process if required.

Step 4: Formal nomination of athletes by the Chair of the Nomination Committee to the OFI. All appeals must be concluded before this can happen.

Step 5: The OFI Selection Committee convenes to ratify the NF Nomination after confirming that the criteria have been applied correctly.

Step 6: Athletes are informed of their selection by the Chef de Mission. Should the OFI Selection Committee not select a nominated athlete, the athlete has the right to use the Selection Appeal Process.

1. NOMINATION AND SELECTION TIMELINES

The timelines for nomination and selection are sport specific and laid out in subsequent sections of this document. The close of the Irish qualification period for specific sports is final and will supercede the closing date for athletes to achieve qualifying performances as per the Kraków 2023 Qualification Guide.

1. NOMINATION COMMITTEE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

1. 1. Nomination Committees should be made up of a minimum of three voting members, save where the NF seeks permission from the OFI to have less than three voting members. In such circumstances the NF shall set out the reasons justifying why the Nomination Committee should comprise less than three voting members, and the OFI shall have sole discretion to decide whether to grant such permission. There may be more than three voting members but an odd number is recommended to avoid a dead-lock.

1. 1. All relevant information and paperwork should be circulated to the Committee Members in advance of the meeting to allow sufficient time for review to enable informed decision making to occur at the meeting.

1. 1. An independent non-voting chairperson should be appointed. Ideally this person should have proven chairing skills and experience of high performance selection.

1. 1. Detailed meeting notes must be recorded giving clear rationale for decisions on nomination or non-nomination and retained by the chairperson of the Nomination Committee.

1. 1. NF Nomination criteria must be applied in full fairly and consistently.

1. 1. Where there is any actual or potential conflict of interest or loyalty e.g. where a member of the committee is a personal coach of an athlete, this potential conflict must be declared before the convening of the meeting and this person should be replaced on the committee by another suitably qualified member.

1. 1. The communication of an athlete’s pre-nomination status must be communicated respectfully. The Nomination Committee Chairperson and Performance Director should give careful consideration to how the information is communicated to all Long List athletes. Formal communication should be in writing.

1. SELECTION COMMITTEE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

1. 1. The Selection Committee shall be made up of three members appointed by the OFI Executive Committee comprising the following members:
      1. OFI Chief Executive Officer (Chair)
      2. Kraków 2023 Chef de Mission
      3. OFI Executive Committee member. This member will be appointed in advance of each selection meeting and will be selected from those members who do not have any association with the sport being selected.

1. 1. Detailed meeting notes must be recorded giving clear rationale for decisions on selection or non-selection and retained by the chairperson of the Selection Committee.

1. 1. Any perceived or known conflict of interest or loyalty will be declared by a Committee Member in advance and subsequent action will be taken to protect the integrity of the selection process.

1. APPEALS

In accordance with the NF Agreement, there will be two types of appeal, namely Nomination Appeals and Selections Appeals.

1. 1. Nomination Appeals
      1. Any Athlete on the Long List may appeal against their nomination or non-nomination by the NF to the Provisional Nomination List in accordance with the procedures set out in set out in the NF’s Appeals Process.
      2. The final right of any Nomination Appeal shall be to SDSI.
      3. The decision of the SDSI shall be final and binding on the parties.
      4. Where the OFI is not a party to a Nomination Appeal, the NF consents to the circulation of the decision of the SDSI Hearing and any other documents (in respect of that Nomination Appeal) to the OFI and to any other party specified by the OFI.
      5. The OFI and/or their legal representative reserves the right to observe the SDSI Nomination Appeal.
      6. The NF shall not nominate any athlete while any internal appeals process is ongoing and shall confirm same in the athlete nomination form.

1. 1. Selection Appeals
      1. Any Nominated Athlete may appeal against their selection or non-selection by the OFI to the SDSI in accordance with clause 6.2(ii) below (“Selection Appeal”). This appeal to the OFI selection decision shall only be available to Nominated Athletes on the following grounds:
         1. That the selection decision was affected by actual bias
         2. There was no basis upon which the OFI’s decision could be reasonably made;
      2. The procedure for a Selection Appeal shall be as follows:
         1. Within 48 hours of receiving the OFI’s notice of their non-selection, the Athlete must file and serve (on the respective CEOs of the OFI and NF) a Notice of Appeal with SDSI setting out clearly the grounds upon which they dispute their non-selection.
         2. Thereafter the SDSI Procedural Rules shall apply.
         3. Any party to a Selection Appeal decision of SDSI may appeal such a decision to CAS in accordance with its rules.
      3. Throughout any Selection Appeals process, all parties must use their best endeavours, acting in good faith, to resolve the dispute through communication and any communications made for the purposes this process may be made on a without prejudice basis and kept confidential between the parties.

1. NOTES TO THE NOMINATION AND SELECTION POLICY

The following will apply for all sports unless otherwise indicated in sport specific sections below:

1. 1. The Board of Directors of the Olympic Federation of Ireland will be the final decision making body in ratifying the position of all athletes and support staff on the 2023 Irish European Games Team.
   2. The individuals named on the NF nomination committees in this document are correct at the time of publication. The NFs retain the right to amend the composition of any nomination committee without further notice to athletes.
   3. The nomination criteria are subject to change, should there be any material amendment to the Kraków 2023 Qualification Guide by either the EOC, Kraków 2023 or the relevant International Federation for the sport. Any amendment to the nomination criteria by a National Federation can only be undertaken following written approval from the OFI. Any amendment must be clearly communicated to all Long List athletes.

1. ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION AND SELECTION

The following will apply for all sports in addition to any NF and/or IF specific eligibility criteria which are detailed in the relevant section. To be eligible for selection athletes must:

1. 1. Be on the Long List
   2. Hold a valid Irish Passport.
   3. Comply with the provisions of the Olympic Charter currently in force.
   4. Have completed the Team Ireland Kraków 2023 Team Member Agreement.
   5. Have completed the EOC Conditions of Participation form (if available at time of nomination).
   6. Have achieved the Minimum Qualifying Standard and any additional performance standard set by the NF.
   7. Have completed the on-line anti-doping course through Sport Ireland or Sport NI AND a Sport Ireland or Sport NI approved anti-doping workshop within 12 months prior to the nomination date.
   8. Is not currently serving a period of ineligibility or period of provisional suspension in relation to an anti-doping rule violation.
   9. Have completed the IOC Preventing Competition Manipulation online course.
   10. Have completed the OFI Medical Data Capture Survey (if available at time of nomination).
   11. Have demonstrated to the satisfaction of their NF that they are fit to perform at a sufficiently competitive level at the Games.
   12. Has not acted in such a manner so as to bring himself/herself, the NF, the sport, the IF, the OFI, the IOC or the EOC into current disrepute. For the avoidance of doubt: the evaluation of this requirement is at the sole discretion of the NF Nomination Committee for the purposes of Nomination and at the sole discretion of the OFI Selection Committee for the purposes of Selection: the public disrepute referred to within this clause includes potential and/or actual disrepute; an example of such public disrepute may include (but is not limited to) an athlete being charged with or convicted of a criminal offence.

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