Day 3 of Sport Integrity Week is over, and the widespread movement to reform sport keeps gaining traction among major organisations, gathering global leaders around the cause. Sports Betting Integrity was the motto for a day with a full action-oriented agenda: 9h30, and 8 digital events.
Stage Asia managed to set the pace for insightful debates, taking the lead in the most pressing issue in India, a country trying to find a way to the best practices as Sports Betting and Fantasy Sport generate doubts amongst the stakeholders.
Dmitry Belianin, Chief Marketing Officer, PMI:
“The number one challenge is the education of the audience. Indian market is emerging, and most of people don’t understand fantasy sports or betting. Some see it as pure entertainment, others as ways or earning money. This market has great potential, but trust is essential. Betting regulation will create thousands of new jobs in India, and increase tax revenues”
Parvin Dabas, Bollywood Actor | MD, Swen Entertainment | Onwer, Pro Panja League and MMA India.
“Sport Integrity cannot be mandatory, it has to be a necessity. We have to start the conversation, it cannot be an option. Education is essential, as consumers have lots of questions and regulation is still to come. There is a grey market, so the Pro Panja League already started to build a legal system”.
SIGA AMERICA ADVISORY BOARD
From India and Stage Asia to Stage America, SIGA included in day 3 a major event: The SIGA AMERICA Advisory Board Launch. It was a major event, in which SIGA Global CEO Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros revealed Dan Mannix as the Chair of the recently created board.
#SIW 2001 media partner As covered the event in Spanish and in English.
SIGA CHAMPIONS SHONE
Open Forums are always one of the richest moments in any conference, as they promote a wide field for debate, in which the rules are easy: everything can be discussed. SIGA Champions Ben Gollings, Cameron Myler, João Tralhão and Kylla Sjoman, joined for a chat with Sarah Butler, and ended up focusing on mental health and integrity as key to clean sport.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
The second period of day 3 was dedicated to 4 top level webinars. Industry leaders from all corners of the world shared expertise. They pointed the way to solve problems, making clear that immediate action is needed and that Sports need all stakeholders to intervene.
George Mavrotas, Secretary of State of Youth and Sport, Greece, took the lead during the “Catch me if you can: Global Sports Betting Regulation“ panel:
“The manipulation of sports competitions has become one of the major threats in Sport, along with doping and violence of any kind. Match-fixing poisons the heart of the game, ruins fair-play and creates doubts and suspicion instead of drama and excitement. The sport movement alone cannot deal with this global problem. The alliance of sport movement, governmental organisations, law enforcement and betting authorities is necessary”.
Jonny Gray, CEO, International Tennis Integrity Agency, added:
“All the players, from the betting industry, regulators, governments and other stakeholders, must collaborate to protect the integrity of sport. Sport cannot do it alone, and we are the victims of manipulation and corruption, which undermines confidence in our product and trust in the clean sport.”
Read #SIW2021 Media Partner O Jogo report on this panel, in Portuguese.
GAMBLING ADDICTION AMONGST FOOTBALLERS
After a good debate about integrity in Esports, Portuguese Players Association president, Joaquim Evangelista, made an amazing revelation: Professional Players in Portugal were suffering from addiction to online gambling.
This was covered by SIW2021 Media Partner O Jogo: Read here.
PLACE YOUR BETS, USA
Sports Betting Regulation is one of SIGA’s Universal Standards for Sport Integrity and the fact is that day 3 of SIW2021 managed to keep the pace of the previous ones, ensuring rich debates that caught the global media attention.
Another good example was webinar 4, the last of the day, on “Sports Betting USA: Place your Bets”. One more group of stellar experts spoke about the recent repeal of PASPA in the US. It generated a report published by As, SIW2021 Media Partner and one of the most influential sports publications in the world. Read here.
WOMEN ON WEDNESDAYS SPECIAL EDITION
Sport Integrity Week day 3 had the cherry on top when the debates were over. The day closed with a special edition of Women on Wednesday, the show SIGA Global COO Katie Simmonds hosts every first Wednesday of every month – exceptionally moved to SIW2021, in order to promote Women empowerment in Sport.
Jessica Berman, Deputy Commissioner, National Lacrosse League, spoke about the differences between men and women on Sport, and explained why Betting is such a relevant issue regarding Sport Integrity:
“From the perspective of work/life balance, it is a question women are often asked. I made the strategic decision I would always ask it to men and women, because men appreciate being asked that question. I’ve never met a man who felt offended or put off by the question of how they balance their personal life.”
“Sports Betting in the US is taking us by storm, changing every single day. We know how detrimental issues related to sports betting can be if you don’t have proper education and policies that make clear what is and isn’t permissible for people who have inside information”
Betty Bavagnoli, Head of Women Footbal, AS Roma, spoke about the importance of Sport Integrity, and revealed the good vibes for the arrival of American owner Dan Friedkin to the Italian club:
“It is good to have an American owner. American people have the right mentality regarding women football. It is fantastic to have people who know the game from women perspective. In the US, women football is the best.”
“Nobody can do anything without respect, education and, in one word, integrity. You can be the best player in the world, but if you don’t have integrity, you career won’t flourish. Integrity is more important than anything else”.
Day 4 will be dedicated to SPORTS BUSINESS, MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION.
Pedro Pinto, Founder & CEO, Empower Sports, will be the host.
Register Now!
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To reserve your place, click here.
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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.
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