At the heart of the EU Sport Forum 2025 in Krakow, a powerhouse panel gathered to confront one of the most pressing issues in modern sport: the well-being of athletes. Representing a cross-section of Olympic, Paralympic, professional and medical perspectives, the discussion illuminated both challenges and opportunities in athlete care, physically, mentally and socially. Precisely, the panel included: Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg, President, Dutch Olympic Committee; Michael Sahl-Hansen, CEO Danish Football Players Union; Simon Keogh, CEO Rugby Players Ireland and Dr Mark Abela, Sport cardiologist from Malta.
The well-being of athletes and the respect for athletes’ rights had recently come under increasing scrutiny, especially in professional leagues and at major sporting events. The panel aimed to explore some of the most important aspects of this issue, including the increasingly demanding performance standards athletes faced, alongside overcrowded competitive schedules, which led to significant mental and physical strain.
Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg shared insights into the Netherlands’ dual role supporting both elite and grassroots sport. Under her leadership, athlete well-being has become a core pillar of development. “We believe that mental fitness is just as crucial as physical and technical ability. Without it, you can’t perform,” – van Zanen-Nieberg emphasised. The Dutch model involves constant feedback from athletes, post-Games reflections and mentorship from retired champions to help guide the next generation. “We don’t just prepare athletes for medals, we prepare them for life,” – she added.
Following the event online was Martyna Trajdos, Olympic bronze medallist in the mixed-team event, for whom the topic of mental health in sport has been very close to her heart since 2020. When she first started bringing it up with federations, she faced a lot of resistance, it simply wasn’t on their agenda. Today, she is grateful that this conversation is finally happening at all levels, including at such a high-calibre event as the EU Sport Forum, because she believes it is exactly what our sporting society needs. She further expresses her thoughts:
“Mental health is not an ‘add-on’, it is the foundation of sustainable success. Without it, we might extract short-term performance but we risk long-term physical and emotional consequences. If we celebrate athletes as our stars, we must also protect them, not just during their careers but also beyond. In every other professional sector, labor laws and protective structures are in place. Why not in competitive sport? A sporting career may last 10 to 15 years. Life after sport is much longer. It should be lived with dignity, health and opportunity.
“As Dr. Brook Choulet wrote in her article for Sports Business Journal mental health is more than a checkbox it is: ‘a competitive advantage waiting to be tapped. Athletes who are mentally and emotionally well have a strategic advantage…better focus, enhanced decision-making and improved performance under pressure.‘ As a former elite athlete, I know what it means to push limits and to overstep them. In elite sport, overriding boundaries often becomes the norm but learning to recognise and respect those boundaries is equally important for long-term success.”
Moving forward, Sahl-Hansen shed light on what he calls a “crisis of workload” in professional football. He raised alarm bells about the unchecked expansion of match calendars by governing bodies like FIFA, often without player consultation. Sahl-Hansen explores further, “This isn’t just about football, it is about basic labour rights. Footballers and athletes are workers, and workers deserve rest. Without dialogue, without health and safety standards and with mounting mental and physical burnout, we end up with worse football or in other cases sporting event and shorter careers.” During the discussion, Sahl-Hansen also pointed to high-profile cases like Ilkay Gündoğan’s burnout before the 2024 Euros and players resigning from national teams at their peak, clear symptoms of an unsustainable system.
Keogh offered a contrast. While rugby lacks the global scale and commercial weight of football, it has succeeded in building strong frameworks for athlete care in Ireland. “We have moved beyond mental health to a broader focus on well-being including physical, emotional and financial.” – he said. Keogh further highlighted successful collaboration with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the launch of mental health programs in over 100 schools and ongoing efforts to support players beyond retirement. Yet challenges remain, particularly in the sport’s uneven financial ecosystem and the reliance on national teams for revenue.
Bringing a clinical perspective, Dr. Abela reminded the audience of the silent dangers athletes face “80% of athletes who suffer cardiac arrest show no symptoms beforehand. We must screen smarter and sooner.” – he warned. He called for a unified European approach to cardiac screening, acknowledging existing disparities across countries and sports. He also stressed the need for a more athlete-centered, shared decision-making model in medical care, balancing risks with autonomy.
What emerged from this high-level discussion was a shared belief in placing the athlete at the centre of sport systems, not just for performance but for sustainability and human dignity. Representatives from several sports were on site to take part in this crucial conversation. Ultimately, it was suggested that if unions across Europe worked more closely together and learned from one another, solutions might be reached more swiftly. Trajdos agreed with this point of view:
“Absolutely. Collaboration across countries and disciplines is not just helpful, it is essential. Mental health stigma doesn’t stop at national borders and neither should our solutions. We need to break the silence, share best practices and work together across federations. Some countries or federations are already further ahead in implementing mental health/ well-being programs; others are just beginning. The leading sport organisations must act as role models so that smaller or emerging federations can follow with confidence and support. To truly normalise mental health in sport, every stakeholder needs to be involved, athletes, coaches, parents, staff, and decision-makers to take part in building a safe and inclusive athletic environment. This is not about one program or one voice. This is about systemic, sustainable, and human-centered change.”
As the panel concluded, van Zanen-Nieberg closed the discussion by a powerfully message, “It is not just about medals. It is about people, mentally, physically, emotionally. If we get that right, the performance will follow.”
Trajdos responded to those closing words, “van Zanen-Nieberg‘s words resonate deeply with me. That sums up what I believe. Too often, we focus only on outcomes and forget the human being behind the result but true performance is not sustainable without wellbeing. If we want to prevent burnout, mental health struggles or early dropout, we must invest in the person first. In the end, it’s not about choosing between performance and protection. It’s about understanding that one depends on the other.”
Cover Image: European Commission
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