Integrity in sport has become a point of contact between four of the biggest titles in the daily sports press in Portugal and Spain.
The Portuguese daily A Bola, O Jogo and Record, and the Spanish As accepted the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) invitation to be permanent Media Partners, extending to a new level the bond created earlier this year.
The joint initiative aims to create greater public awareness of Good Governance, Financial Integrity, Sports Betting Integrity, and Youth Education and Child Protection, the four pillars of SIGA’s universal standards.
Having gathered 28 Media Partners for Sport Integrity Week 2021 (September 13th to 17th), SIGA continues to forge ahead and unite all those seeking reform in sport, to tackle criminal infiltration. The four daily sports newspapers now announced as permanent SIGA Media Partners join the Malaysian digital newspaper twentytwo13.my, the Portuguese National Sport Press Club (CNID), and the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) and other soon-to-be-announced partners.
Rivals on newsstands, where newspapers compete, the new permanent Media Partners of SIGA come together for a common cause, as explained by Fernando Urbano, editor-in-chief of A Bola, the oldest sports newspaper in Portugal:
“A Bola continues to partner with SIGA as a media partner, considering that all efforts to provide sport with greater transparency will always be worthwhile and will have our unequivocal support“.
José Manuel Ribeiro, director of O Jogo, also made his motivations clear:
“We are proud to renew our association with SIGA with the certainty that, at least, we will make life a little more difficult for those who are dedicated to destroying, every day, the fantastic world of sport“.
Bernardo Ribeiro, Record director, points out the connection between Integrity in Sport and in other aspects of life in society:
“Record is proud to partner with all organisations that work towards a sport industry clean of criminal infiltration, with high standards on good governance and child protection. That is why we committed to be SIGA permanent Media Partners, as SIGA is a coalition of like-minded organisations, with no other goal than implementing Sport Integrity. We, at Record, believe journalism is one of the democracy pillars, and that Media has not only the power, but also the responsibility of making accountable all those in leading roles, and scrutinize them. Integrity in Sport may be a role to Integrity in all other aspects of our lives.”
Vicente Jimenez, responsible for Spanish As emphasised he wants “to support good practices in the world of sport”, and that “the media can play an important role in defending good governance and responsibility“. “SIGA is a reference regarding those standards, and this fight for Integrity is essential because without Integrity there is no sport”
With more than 100 million monthly unique visitors in Spain, the leader in South America and with editions in English that make it influential in the US, As adds the universal relevance of SIGA to the impact of around 500 million monthly views of Portuguese newspapers. A Bola, O Jogo and Record reach includes Africa, Brazil, and countries where the Portuguese community is implemented, such as the USA, Canada, and several Central European nations.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s CEO, welcomed the new permanent Media Partners saying that “journalism is an essential vehicle for monitoring and promoting integrity, ultimately making them one of the rule of law“. Macedo de Medeiros also renewed the invitation for all like-minded media organisations to join SIGA as Media Partners.
The agreement to join efforts with SIGA does not involve any financial transactions, ensuring respect for the values of a free press and the independence of each of the Media Partners and SIGA. It also doesn’t include any obligation that would threaten editorial freedom. SIGA will cooperate at all-time with the Media Partners upon their request, keep them informed about the Alliance activities and Integrity issues, and promote mutual participation in initiatives regarding Sport Integrity awareness and promotion
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world´s largest coalition in the field of sport´s governance and integrity. Supported by more than 100 international multi-industry supporters, SIGA is an independent and neutral organisation whose mission is to bring about meaningful reforms and enhance the integrity of all sports through a set of universal standards operated by an independent and neutral body. 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. Click on the hyperlinks for the list of SIGA Members and Committed Supporters and SIGA Partners.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com. To contact SIGA, please email: comms@siga-sport.com.
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