The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) are proud to announce the joint organization of a Special Session during the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption.
This biennial conference serves as the principal policymaking body of the UN Convention, dedicated to supporting States parties and signatories in their commitment to implement the Convention and providing policy guidance to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the development and execution of anti-corruption initiatives.
The promotion of integrity, anti-corruption and compliance in Sport has become one of the priorities on the international anti-corruption agenda. COSP adopted two resolutions dealing with sport in 2017 (“Corruption in Sport”) and in 2019 (“Safeguarding Sport from Corruption”). In the Political Declaration of the special session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS 2021), the States declared safeguarding sport from corruption as one of their important goals.
The event, titled “Integrity and Anti-Corruption in Sport,” was motivated by the shared recognition that safeguarding Sport from corruption is a critical focus within the global anti-corruption agenda. It will take place on Thursday, 14 December 2023, at 13:00 EST (19:00 CET), at the Georgia World Congress Center, room Philadelphia A312, in Atlanta, USA. It will focus on the primary corruption risks in Sport and present effective solutions.
The panel will have the participation of Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini (Chair of SIGA, Italian Magistrate and co-Chair of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group), Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros (Global CEO of SIGA), Katie Simmonds (Global COO of SIGA and Managing Director of SIGAWomen); Andrew Spalding (Faculty Member of IACA and Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law). Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz, Officer-in-Charge of IACA, will moderate the high-level panel session.
This side event to the COSP UNCAC will cover various crucial topics, including:
- Identifying areas and relationships vulnerable to corruption and related crimes in Sport.
- Analyzing modern trends of corruption and other crimes in Sport.
- Sharing effective strategies and best practices for promoting integrity and preventing corruption within sports organizations.
- Discussing the roles of governments, international organizations, and sports bodies in promoting integrity and anti-corruption in Sport.
This initiative is a result of the partnership established through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 19, 2023, between SIGA and IACA.
Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz, Officer-in-Charge at the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) stated:
“Up to $1.7 trillion is estimated to be wagered on illicit betting markets each year, according to the report released in 2021 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
IACA is happy to expand its work against corruption in sports by providing anti-corruption education, capacity building and technical assistance to sports organisations and sports associations, and we welcome new inroads in the global effort to stamp corruption out of sports. Earlier this year, IACA extended a hand of partnership to the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, (SIGA) with the aim to engage in various forms of collaboration, including joint projects, the exchange of relevant information, capacity-building initiatives, and the promotion of best practices in anti-corruption measures.”
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s Global CEO, emphasized the role played by the organisation in growing the recognition of the need of effective measures to tackle Corruption in Sport:
“There’s no point in denying the reality: Sport is more vulnerable and exposed than ever to corruption, money laundering and criminal infiltration. These threats are global, complex, increasingly sophisticated, and often involve transnational organized crime. Threats like these can’t be tackled by Sport alone. To win this fight, we need to move away from old mentalities, old rhetoric and old territorial feelings and adopt a complete shift of paradigm. We need to move from obsolete legislation and fragmented approaches into an up-to-date, robust, efficient, global regulatory framework, and action-oriented, result-driven, inclusive cooperation, at both national and international levels. We need to effectively prioritise anti-corruption in Sport, as the G20 agreed to do when adopting SIGA’s recommendation to include Anti-Corruption in Sport as one of the top three priorities, in 2021, to confer the judicial system and law enforcement with the much-need training, education and capacity building. Enabling these advances are the fundamental purposes of our joint session with IACA. A session that, once again, underscores the active contribution that SIGA and IACA are committed to and further rendering our support of the UN’s efforts to eradicate corruption from the face of our society, global economy and, of course, sport.”
SIGA’s CEO also emphasized this side event will coincide with the Annual Anti-Corruption Week, scheduled to be celebrated from December 9 to 15. The week will also feature the inaugural meeting of SIGA’s permanent committee on Anti-Corruption in Sport, an edition of the Sport Integrity Journal, and the announcement of details regarding the creation of an award in honour of SIGA’s former Chair, Franco Frattini, who passed away on December 24, 2022.
IACA/SIGA’s COSP UNCAC side event
live streaming will be available here
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world’s leading organisation for Sport Integrity. We are creating a whole new landscape for the sports industry by delivering independent global rating and certification for world Sport to ensure it is governed and operates under the highest integrity standards: The SIGA Universal Standards.
Funded by our Members, SIGA is a non for profit global independent organisation with one aim: To ensure the sport industry is governed under the highest integrity standards so that the values of sport are protected.
SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for-profit association, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com and FAQs.
To contact SIGA, please email: comms@siga-sport.com.
@Sigalliance – Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin | #SIGA #SIGAWoW
ABOUT IACA
The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) is an international organization and post-secondary educational institution based in Laxenburg, Austria.We advance the goals of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, promote the rule of law, and provide support and technical assistance for states, organizations, corporations, and other stakeholders.Corruption knows no borders, affects all countries and sectors of society, and cannot be remedied with traditional educational methods alone. This is why our vision is to tackle the scourge of corruption with a new and holistic approach, including academic programmes, capacity building initiatives, technical assistance, research, and international cooperation and networking.
To contact IACA, please email: james.bigila@iaca.int
For more information about IACA, visit – www.iaca.int