Sports archives internationally - a development with risks and challenges?

The situation of sports archives worldwide is gradually showing signs of improvement, but at national level there are still huge differences and much needs to be done in order to minimise the risks of valuable material being destroyed. Despite earlier efforts to survey institutions holding sports archives, there is still no comprehensive overview of the situation. The risks connected with the handling of sports archives are manifoldand there is a great need in many areas to raise awareness about the importance of saving sports archives. This situation is related to the status of sports history within academic research; where this is low, the management of sports archives will never be an institutional priority. Both sports organisations and sports administration authorities need to be made aware of the importance of saving documentation, and that this is best taken care of by archival professionals, preferably in specialised institutions institutions, is not archiving but providing the best possible service to their sport.