The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), an independent coalition of 70 international sports stakeholders, today (Friday) launched a draft set of universal industry standards designed to support the industry in achieving sustainable reform.
SIGA is comprised of sporting bodies, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business entities, rights-holders, NGOs and professional services companies including MasterCard, Deloitte, the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), Dow Jones, PwC, the World Bank and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS).
The organisation has worked on the document for the past six months and has now entered a consultancy phase with “several leading sports bodies” to refine and finalise the framework, according to Simon Greenberg, head of Dow Jones Sport, one of the leading figures at SIGA.
While the framework is intended to suit every organisation, SIGA has also created specific versions for four stakeholder groups. For governments, this focuses on regulating the betting market; criminalising betting fraud, corruption and criminal infiltration in sport; and protecting whistleblowers.
For sports organisations, SIGA will aim to establish a unit responsible for sport integrity, establish a statute of limitations, develop anti-corruption code of conduct, instigate whistle-blower policy, ensure transparent disciplinary procedures and work with governments to establish betting parameters.
SIGA will seek to work with betting regulators to establish parameters for combating illegal betting, support prosecutions, identify vulnerable types of betting, react to suspicious alerts and block consumer access to illegal operators.
Finally, for sports betting operators, SIGA will look to share information, comply with legal frameworks and actively manage risk, develop blocking mechanisms, ensure prompt reporting of suspicious behaviour and protect consumers.
When asked how SIGA could ensure independence when it is funded by the companies it hopes to monitor, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, chief executive of ICSS Europe and Latin America and co-ordinator of SIGA, said that the multiplicity of industry sectors involved in the initiative ensured its integrity.Madeiros also confirmed that each member of SIGA has contributed an equal amount, either through cash or value-in-kind, to support the organisation but that it was searching for a sustainable funding model.
In response to questions about SIGA’s role in the sports industry, Madeiros said that it did not intend to replace any one body but was keen to complement and work with any “open-minded organisation” willing to engage with the coalition.
