The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) have signed a groundbreaking partnership aimed at fostering the prevention of and the fight against corruption in Sport. This collaboration, sealed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signifies an unwavering commitment to upholding integrity, promoting good governance, and safeguarding the values of fairness and transparency in the sporting industry.
Both IACA and SIGA recognise the grave threats posed by corruption to the security and stability of societies, and their collaboration aims to counter these challenges by promoting ethical values, justice, sustainable development, and human rights.
Drawing upon the numerous international conventions and mechanisms that advocate for Good Governance and the fight against corruption, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, this partnership underscores the importance of international collaboration in addressing these pressing issues.
The MoU was signed at IACA’s headquarters in Vienna by Thomas Stelzer, Dean, IACA, Italian Magistrate Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, Independent Chair, SIGA, co-Chair, G20-Anti-Corruption Working Group, and Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA Global CEO. It solidifies a comprehensive framework for cooperation between the two like-minded organisations.
Under this agreement, IACA and SIGA will 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, such as the adoption of SIGA Universal Standards.
Commenting on the agreement, Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, SIGA’s Independent Chair, and G20’s Anti-Corruption Working Group co-Chair, stated:
“Sport is a multi-billion-dollar industry with intricate ties to public and private interests. High levels of public expenditure, and large-scale investment from sponsors, together with high-value media contracts, create an environment that presents significant corruption risks. Anti-Corruption international technical assistance and capacity-building are strategic for legal framework development and the enforcement of bodies and authorities. Anti-corruption education supports prevention as it helps to nurture a culture of integrity and raise awareness in the wider society. That’s why the convergence of the IACA and SIGA is very-good news and a strong step for a new era of enforcement in the fight against corruption in Sport.
Thomas Stelzer, IACA’s Dean, added:
“Sport is an important enabler of sustainable development and has a strong positive impact on societies, particularly on children, youth, and young people. At the same time, corruption, match-fixing, poor governance, lack of transparency, infiltration of organised crime, trafficking in players, and abuses against young athletes are increasingly undermining sport and its capacity to promote positive change in society, modernise procedures, educate and inspire youth, foster inclusion and create new jobs. The memorandum we signed today creates a framework for IACA and SIGA to work jointly on solutions to address a global need of knowledge and updated information, implement research projects, and capacity-building activities to prevent, detect, and counter corruption in sport and any other threats to its integrity”.
– THE END –
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 programs, 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
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