The integrity of sport cannot coexist with opacity.”
This is the message delivered by Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, Global CEO of SIGA and Executive Chairman of SIGA EUROPE, on Europe Day 2026.
Referring to the European Sport Model, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros reaffirms the importance of preserving a system built on solidarity, sporting merit, social responsibility, inclusion and the recognition that Sport serves a broader public interest.
At a time when Sport faces growing pressure from opaque ownership structures, speculative capital, multi-club ownership models and financial opacity, Macedo de Medeiros warns that Europe can no longer afford fragmented oversight or institutional complacency.
“Integrity cannot stop at the edge of the pitch.”
During the address, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros also calls for stronger protection of sports intellectual property rights and meaningful action against industrial-scale digital piracy, stressing that media and audiovisual rights are not merely commercial assets, but fundamental pillars sustaining grassroots sport, women’s sport, youth development and solidarity across the entire sporting ecosystem.
SIGA EUROPE Executive Chairman further highlights the importance of initiatives such as the SIGA EUROPE Cycle of Debates and the Sport Transparency Index, reinforcing that the future of Sport in Europe must continue to be shaped by values: “Cooperation over fragmentation, responsibility over complacency, integrity over expediency, and long-term vision over short-term interests.”
On Europe Day, SIGA EUROPE reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding the integrity, credibility, and sustainability of Sport in Europe.
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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.