Dear SIGA Members, Committed Supports and Partners,
Dear friends in Sport Integrity,
Today is a day of great significance for us. It marks the successful completion of our SIGA STRIVES campaign.
Sixty working days ago, at the outset of this global COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented economic crisis, we made a public commitment: to launch 30 boosting measures over the course of 60 working days, to help navigate the uncertainty of the situation, instil unity behind a common purpose, and bring together all like-minded organisations and individuals willing to continue the fight for Sport Integrity, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
No one could have anticipated the challenges we would have to go through. But what is indisputable, today, is that we delivered what we promised.
We responded swiftly and proactively to what can only be defined as the biggest single major crisis in well over a century. A health crisis, an economic crisis, and a crisis in confidence.
We set in motion an ambitious action plan, and produced a broad range of initiatives that will help Sport evolve from the top down and the bottom up, with enhanced governance, transparency and accountability.
We kept our membership base united and cohesive, permanently informed and engaged on all initiatives and projects.
We ensured that SIGA remained active, productive and relevant. No small feat when the lights in the sports stadiums and offices around the globe were permanently turned off.
We increased exponentially our public visibility, institutional recognition and inter-generational and cross-sector influence, worldwide.
Today marks the day where we can proudly say that, not only did we achieve our goals – 30 Boosting Measures for Sport Integrity in 60 Working Days –, but we created a platform for greater and more meaningful collaborative success than anyone dared to dream.
A special word of thanks to you, our Members, Committed Supporters and Partners, together with my amazing team for the huge collective effort and ongoing support. Without you all, this would not have been possible.
The past 60 working days have tested our resilience and our strength like nothing else before.
They have also awakened a profound, widespread demand for reform. In 60 working days, the world has not only experienced the threat of a global health pandemic, but it has also awakened a civil movement where the public are no longer satisfied with the status quo. They are demanding change and questioning leadership, and making their voices heard, with resounding impact.
We must all strive to capture this spirit, seize the momentum and ensure this transition into meaningful change.
We must not allow this moment to pass and be forgotten.
If we harness this progressive widespread public consciousness and use it for reform, then this truly can be the ray of light that breaks through the dark clouds of COVID-19.
It is therefore my honour and pleasure to announce that the SIGA STRIVES 30th, and final Boosting Measure is the launch of the SIGAccelerator Programme to be delivered during the remaining six months of 2020.
The SIGAccelerator has been specifically conceived to build upon the momentum created by SIGA STRIVES and act as a catalyst to help galvanise the passion for positive evolution, and utilise it to drive the following SIGA collaborative initiatives:
- The implementation of the SIGA Universal Standards on Good Governance in Sport, Financial Integrity in Sport and Sports Betting Integrity, and the development of the SIGA Universal Standards on Youth Development and Child Protection in Sport.
- The SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS)
- The SIGA White Paper on Sport Integrity
- The SIGA Anti-Corruption Initiative
- The SIGA – UNESCO Business Case for Sport Integrity Project
- The Global Project on Financial Integrity & Transparency in Sport (FITS)
- SIGA Global Agenda for Female Empowerment and Leadership in Sport
- The SIGA Global University Network
- The SIGA Youth Council
- The SIGA Sport Integrity Awards
- The SIGA Action Plan on Gender, Diversity & Inclusion in Sport
And last, but by no means least:
12. The SIGA Sport Integrity Week (7-11 September)
To conclude, I want to thank you all for your invaluable support and your resolve to continue pressing for positive change.
Together, acting as a team, with a positive spirit, constructive attitude and strong reformist vision, we will accelerate and we will achieve all this. And, when we do, we can all be proud of the role we played and the progress we helped to make.
We count on you! You know you can count on us!
Yours sincerely,
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros
CEO, SIGA
Chairman & CEO, SIGA AMERICA
- Enclosed: SIGA STRIVES – 30 Boosting Measure Action Plan.