Over 100 European sports officials and experts from the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and other organisations on Thursday opened a two-day conference in Greece on ethics and sport autonomy, organisers said.Held in the southern Athens suburb of Vouliagmeni to Friday, the conference called by the Council of Europe will discuss a variety of current ethical challenges in sport from genetic doping and match fixing to online gambling.Over 100 delegates will attend including European football governing body (UEFA) chairman Michel Platini, European Olympic Commitee president Patrick Hickey, WADA director general David Howman and Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio.Participating officials are expected to approve a resolutions on sports autonomy from excessive sponsor influence, and call for closer cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EU on sports initiatives.Other themes to be examined include human trafficking in sport and discrimination in access to sports facilities and resources.The opening of the conference on Thursday was delayed by several hours as most of the delegates were unable to fly into the country on Wednesday due to a general strike, an organiser told AFP.The strike by unions coincided with demonstrations and violence in Athens and other major cities that began on Saturday over the killing of a 15-year-old boy by police. Sporadic attacks on police by youths continued on Thursday.A press conference is scheduled for 1230 GMT on Friday.Founded in 1949 and currently comprising 47 states, the Council of Europe promotes democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.jph/cw08