ENGSO is the umbrella organisation of National Olympic Committees, National Sports Confederations and National Paralympic Committees responsible for grassroots sport across Europe.đ€đŹ In the early sixties, when governments had started to deliberate on sports matters in the Council of Europe, the informal NGO Club, as a discussion forum, was set up in order to join forces and define common sport political positions. In this way, ENGSO not only strengthened its status as a partner for the defense of general sports interests at a European level, especially vis-Ă -vis political and administrative bodies of the European Union. But it also became a bridge building organisation for East-West cooperation in sports when, after the political changes in Eastern and Central Europe, membership increased and ENGSO thus became a true Pan-European sports organisation. ENGSO is today the only European sports organisation having been granted consultative status by the Council of Europe.
