The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has announced today that plans to activate and further expand its Global University Network (GUN) are in full swing.

Capitalising on pre-existing cooperation agreements signed between SIGA and a plethora of leading global academic and research institutions, including George Washington University, UNICRI, the Institute of Legal-Political Sciences of the Law School of Lisbon, the High Institute of Economic, Finance and Fiscal Law of the Law School of Lisbon, and the High Institute of Law and Economy of Spain, the SIGA Global University Network aims to create a platform to harness the collective wealth of knowledge, expertise and synergies to further advance Sport Integrity worldwide.

The primary purposes of the SIGA GUN comprise:

– Knowledge Transfer: to ensure Sport Integrity becomes a key component of University Curriculum, including, by means of example, via the development of Integrity-related Executive Education Courses.

– Research: to design, develop and deliver multi-stakeholder research, attain cross-industry support, generate industry leading content and data that underpins thought leadership initiatives and to attract funding from various sources.

– Future Leaders Programme: to deliver integrated development, recognition and enrichment opportunities that create a bridge between the university and practitioner environments, specifically tailored to help shape the leaders of tomorrow. This will include high-level internship opportunities for university students with SIGA and our Members and Committed Supporters.

The foundational digital gathering will take place on 2nd July 2020. This thought leadership conclave will help inform the grouping’s strategic priorities, SGUN agenda and work-programme for 2020/2021, all to be announced during the SIGA Sport Integrity Week, taking place between 07 and 11 September 2020.

Participants will also address SIGA’s Thought Leadership Projects, including: the SIGA White Paper on Sport Integrity; the SIGA – UNESCO joint project on The Business Case for Sport Integrity; the Global Legal Analysis on the Criminalisation of Corruption in Sport; the SIGA Global Agenda on Gender, Diversity and Inclusion in Sport; to name but a few.

Speaking on behalf of SIGA, Dr Iain Lindsay, Director of Research, Knowledge and Innovation, and scientific coordinator of the SIGA GUN, explained:

“We live in increasingly uncertain times. As a global society widespread reform has never has a broader, more immediate, mandate. In the coming COVID-related restrictive financial climate research funding will inevitably become scarcer and more heavily scrutinized. It is imperative that we, and all those involved within the wider global research industry, demonstrate quantifiable return on investment with exceptional research and thought leadership initiatives that deliver immediate, impactful results. To succeed in these difficult times high-quality outputs delivered in conjunction with extensive and inclusive industry-wide cohesion is vital. To navigate these challenges we aim to usher in a new

productive era of multi-stakeholder collaboration that will help supercharge the Sport Integrity reform agenda via the creation of the SGUN.”

This is the 28th in a set of 30 boosting measures and initiatives being developed by SIGA as part of the Alliance’s global campaign #SIGASTRIVES.

SIGA STRIVES Boosting Measure 29 will be announced this Thursday! Stay tuned