While Doha was the capital city for day 6 of the Sport Integrity Week 2023 in Asia (read here), Porto, in Portugal, marked in gold SIGA’s flagship thought leadership event in Europe.
RMBS law firm played host to the conference titled “Integrity in Sport: The New Challenges,” while Liga Portugal’s Thinking Football Programme featured SIGA’s inaugural Football Integrity Forum.
Over the course of eight intense and action-packed hours, attendees engaged in discussions about SIGA’s mission and values, with notable figures leading the way. Porto Mayor Rui Moreira set the tone at the RMBS conference with a powerful speech, emphasizing the importance of sports values as beacons of integrity and transparency, in contrast to the opacity that threatens the world of sports.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s Global CEO, echoed the sentiment, asserting that “clean sport can’t be seen as utopia.” He emphasized SIGA’s work, particularly through the creation of Universal Standards on Sport Integrity.
The opening ceremony featured the participation of José Ricardo Gonçalves (RMBS’ Partner), Nuno Botelho, President of Porto’s Comercial Association, and Tiago Rodrigues Bastos, Partner at RMBS.
Following a keynote address on Sport Integrity and SIGA GOALS, the Golden Room at Porto Stock Exchange Palace hosted a panel session moderated by TV host Carlos Daniel. Panellists included Maria Filipa de Jorge Gonçalves (Prosecutor DIAP), Jorge Lobato (Secretary General, MENAC), Pedro Moura (President, European Table Tennis Union), Pedro Sequeira (Portuguese Coaches Confederation), Joaquim Evangelista (President, Portuguese Footballers Union), Luciano Gonçalves (President, Portuguese Referees Association), and Tiago Rodrigues Basto (Partner, RMBS).
After an insightful debate that allowed experts to share their knowledge, João Sousa, a prominent Portuguese tennis player engaged in a fireside chat to address Sport Integrity Issues, including online abuse.
FOOTBALL INTEGRITY FORUM
The Football Integrity Forum opened with a strong call to action from Pedro Proença, President of Liga Portugal: “Everyone must be committed to ensuring sport maintains its integrity. This is a collective effort that all clubs must embrace.” SIGA’s Global CEO, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, further emphasized the need for unity: “Each person in this room is responsible for this much-needed change. We are all agents of change, fostering football into a new era because no one can stop us when we unite.”
The first panel of the Football Integrity Forum, moderated by Fernando Veiga Gomes (Partner, Abreu Advogados, and President of SIGA Ethics Committee), featured Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini (SIGA Chair, joining remotely from Rome), Richard Weber (former Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division, US IRS; Partner, Winston & Straw), Sandra Lopez (Exec-Tech and Co-chair, SIGA AMERICA Advisory Board), and Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros (SIGA CEO). They discussed “Football in Europe & Beyond: Integrity Vision 2030.”
The second panel discussion in SIGA’s Football Integrity Forum explored “The Good Governance Championship: What Does Success Look Like?” Katie Simmonds (SIGA Global COO) moderated the discussion, which included Alberto Colombo (Deputy Secretary-General, European Leagues), Vítor Vale (Member, Audit & Compliance Committee, SIGA), Roberto Armelin (Legal and Compliance Officer, São Paulo FC), and Paulo de Mariz Rozeira (Head of Legal, Liga Portugal). This panel delved into Liga’s journey to achieve the SIRVS Bronze Certificate for Good Governance in Sport.
Another key pillar of SIGA’s vision is Sports Betting Integrity. To address SIGA’s solutions for this complex topic, Katie Simmonds hosted a session featuring SIGA’s members, Epic Risk Management (Martin Bland), and Matt Zarb-Cousin (Gamban). Stephanie Eichenberger (Anti-Match Fixing expert, UEFA) and Ricardo Domingues, President of APAJO, completed the panel.
The day concluded with a dynamic and passionate discussion on Youth Development and Protection in Football, featuring representatives from various sectors. They identified urgent threats and discussed potential solutions. Ivan Bravo, Director-General of Aspire Academy, advocated for the use of SIGA Universal Standards on Youth Development and Protection as a guiding tool for sports organizations.
GAME CHANGER 360
In the spirit of Sport Integrity Week 2023, GameChanger 360 hosted a webinar entitled “Integrity Training for Athletes.” The event featured speakers Jack Kibble-White, Moses Swaibu, Sean Scannell, Michael Malcolm, Andy Harvey, and Alan Alger, engaging in a productive and insightful debate on topics related to corruption and match-fixing in sports.
Corruption presents a complex and multifaceted threat to the integrity of sports, often with transnational characteristics. Maintaining the integrity of sporting competitions hinges on athletes’ conduct, requiring sufficient knowledge of the rules and meaningful guidance to make the right decisions. The need for effective training, guidance, and awareness-raising for athletes, at all stages of their professional journey, is widely acknowledged but rarely delivered effectively.
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.
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