The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) is proud to announce the launch of the Italian-language edition of its Universal Standards on Sport Integrity dedicated to Good Governance in Sport. This marks another concrete step in SIGA’s ongoing effort to make its Standards increasingly accessible to organisations across the world.
The SIGA Universal Standards are the cornerstone of the organisation’s global reform agenda. They provide a clear, practical and measurable framework for strengthening integrity across four fundamental areas:
- Good Governance in Sport
- Financial Integrity & Transparency in Sport
- Sports Betting Integrity
- Youth Development & Protection in Sport
Following the publication of the Portuguese translation in 2023, the release of the Italian version further expands the reach of SIGA’s Standards and reinforces their role as a global benchmark. By making these documents available in additional languages, SIGA supports sport organisations of all sizes – from national federations and leagues to clubs, regulators and investors – in adopting robust integrity standards based on transparency, accountability and independent oversight.
The launch of the Italian edition is part of the Sport Integrity Action Month, SIGA’s initiative dedicated to promoting integrity, good governance, and ethical leadership in sport worldwide.
Italy holds a special place in SIGA’s history, as the organisation’s first Independent Chair, the late Franco Frattini, was Italian, and his leadership was instrumental in establishing SIGA as the world’s leading coalition for Sport Integrity. Today, his legacy continues under the current Independent Chair, Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, also from Italy and now serving his second mandate. Their contribution underscores the strong commitment of Italian leadership to SIGA’s mission and the advancement of global standards in good governance.
Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, Independent SIGA Chair, emphasized the significance and symbolism of this landmark initiative:
“As Chair of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, and as an Italian, I am particularly pleased to mark the launch of the Italian-language edition of SIGA’s Universal Standards on Sport Integrity – Good Governance in Sport. Making these Standards available in Italian, Portuguese and English is more than a question of translation. It is about ensuring that essential governance tools are accessible to more organisations, regulators, and stakeholders in the languages in which they work, legislate, and are held accountable. Together, these three languages are spoken by over one fifth of the world’s population, significantly extending the practical reach and impact of our Standards.
By broadening linguistic access, SIGA is lowering barriers to reform and inviting more clubs, leagues, federations, public authorities, and partners to embrace a culture of transparency, accountability, and good governance. This is how we turn principles into practice and build a truly global movement for Sport Integrity.”
Roberto Fiore, Founding Member, LP Avocatti; Member, SIGA Council, and Flavio Contursi, Lawyer, LP Avocatti, emphasized:
“At a time when Italian sport is under a growing duty to prove, rather than merely proclaim, its capacity for innovation and integrity, SIGA’s Universal Standards provide a concrete, operational and verifiable framework for action. They transform abstract values – fairness, transparency, accountability – into specific requirements, benchmarks and controls that can be implemented, monitored and, where necessary, enforced.
Their translation into Italian is not a merely formal exercise, but a strategic and systemic step: it enables national sports institutions – from federations to clubs, as well as regulators, sponsors and investors – to embed internationally recognised standards into their governance systems, compliance programmes and organisational models. In this way, standards become an engine of real change: they support the early detection and prevention of risks, strengthen independent oversight, and create a shared metric against which conduct can be measured.
It is a concrete opportunity to move from generic statements of principle to structural reform, to give tangible content to the idea of “integrity” and to position Italy as a point of reference for ethical leadership and good governance in sport at global level.”
Nicola Alloca, Chair of the Anti-Corruption Committee, OECD; Co-Chair, Integrity & Compliance Task Force, B20 South Africa, stated:
“I warmly welcome the launch of SIGA’s Universal Standards on Good Governance in Sport. These Standards provide a concrete and structured framework, introducing clear and verifiable criteria to strengthen transparency, accountability and integrity in sport.
In a sector with significant economic and social impact, solid governance is essential to safeguard the credibility of competitions and public trust. SIGA’s initiative moves in this direction and helps align the sports ecosystem with leading international best practices.”
Stefano Cavanna, Senior Managing Partner, Arché Studio Legale, added:
“SIGA’s Universal Standards represent a much-needed global benchmark for integrity and good governance in sport. By setting clear, rigorous and internationally recognised criteria, they provide sports institutions with a reliable framework to safeguard transparency, accountability and ethical conduct across all levels of competition. The publication of the Italian-language edition is especially valuable for federations, leagues, clubs and regulators in Italy, as it brings these Standards closer to the daily work of those responsible for protecting the credibility of our sporting system. Making these principles fully accessible in our own language is a decisive step toward strengthening institutional culture and ensuring that good governance is not merely an aspiration, but a concrete operational practice.”
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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.
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