As the FIFA World Cup commands global attention, Integrity Voices looks beyond the pitch — to the values, choices and leadership shaping the future of Sport.
Four leaders. Five questions. Four perspectives from across the global game.
A platform for our Members. A forum for dialogue. A contribution to the global conversation on Sport Integrity — at a moment when Football has the world’s full attention.
Anca-Maria Gherghel
Senior Research Manager, EPIC Global Solutions; Co-Chair, SIGA Youth Council
Racism, without question. It remains one of the biggest threats to sport’s values and credibility, and stronger action and accountability are needed to address it.
Brian Lewis
Secretary-General, CANOC; Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Gender, Race, Inclusion & Diversity
The actions, inactions, and words of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. His leadership has too often failed to uphold the true sporting values of the beautiful game, particularly in the face of situations such as the inequal treatment of the Iranian national team in the United States, the case of Haiti, and the Somali referee controversy. These are not isolated episodes, but warning signs of racism, double standards, and institutional complacency that cannot be tolerated in global sport.
Cecilia Perez Rivas
Former Minister of Justice, Paraguay; Associate Lawyer, Julia Abogados; Master of Laws (LL.M.) wiht Specialisation in Oral Litigation; Lecturer, Metropolitan University of Asunción
During this World Cup, the danger is not the superficial symptom, but the systemic vulnerability: the lack of transparency in financial flows and match-fixing through illegal betting. In an event that generates billions in real time, the absence of proper due diligence on the origin of capital linked to sponsorships and commercial rights opens a direct gateway to money laundering. If the sports industry fails to audit these networks with surgical precision, the tournament ceases to be a sovereign sporting spectacle and becomes a vehicle for economic impunity and large-scale global fraud.
Roberto Fiore
Managing Partner, LP Avvocati (SIGA Member); Member, SIGA Council
The most critical Sport Integrity issue at the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be competition manipulation linked to sports betting and corruption. Global betting markets, combined with increasingly sophisticated criminal networks, create significant risks of match-fixing and illegal betting activity. This is consistent with the UNODC 2024 report “Safeguarding Major Sporting Events from Corruption”, which stresses the need for stronger prevention, reporting mechanisms, and cooperation among authorities, sports organizations, and private stakeholders.
Anca-Maria Gherghel
Senior Research Manager, EPIC Global Solutions; Co-Chair, SIGA Youth Council
Sport integrity means protecting fairness, respect, and trust in sport. It means creating an environment where everyone is treated equally, issues are addressed proactively, and the values of sport are upheld both on and off the field.
Brian Lewis
Secretary-General, CANOC; Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Gender, Race, Inclusion & Diversity
Unwavering and indomitable dedication , vision and courage to fight to eradicate injustice, inequality and the deepening influence of organised crime in global sport.
Cecilia Perez Rivas
Former Minister of Justice, Paraguay; Associate Lawyer, Julia Abogados; Master of Laws (LL.M.) wiht Specialisation in Oral Litigation; Lecturer, Metropolitan University of Asunción
Integrity is neither an abstract concept nor a statement of good intentions; it is a system of verifiable and enforceable controls. It means moving from rhetoric to mandatory standards: implementing strict compliance policies, ensuring protected whistleblowing channels that safeguard those who come forward, and carrying out independent external audits of every cent that enters the system. Integrity is, above all, the eradication of conflicts of interest and the end of discretionary decision-making. What cannot be audited is simply not integral and has no real value.
Roberto Fiore
Managing Partner, LP Avvocati (SIGA Member); Member, SIGA Council
Sport Integrity means ensuring that every competition is decided solely by athletes’ talent, preparation, and performance, within a framework of respected rules and equal opportunities. It is not only about preventing corruption, match-fixing, or doping; it is also about promoting transparency, accountability, and fair play. Sport Integrity is the foundation of the trust that athletes, fans, sponsors, and institutions place in sport. Without that trust, results lose their meaning. Safeguarding integrity is therefore a shared responsibility across the entire sporting ecosystem.
Anca-Maria Gherghel
Senior Research Manager, EPIC Global Solutions; Co-Chair, SIGA Youth Council
By paying genuine attention to the issues that matter and showing through actions—not just statements—that these concerns are taken seriously
Brian Lewis
Secretary-General, CANOC; Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Gender, Race, Inclusion & Diversity
By implementing absolute, honest transparency. Good Governance is just performative without absolute transparency. There is also a need for urgency in dealing with racism. It is too prevalent in global sport.
Cecilia Perez Rivas
Former Minister of Justice, Paraguay; Associate Lawyer, Julia Abogados; Master of Laws (LL.M.) wiht Specialisation in Oral Litigation; Lecturer, Metropolitan University of Asunción
The trust of fans, athletes and sponsors is not sustained by promises, but by eliminating closed-door self-regulation. Stakeholders demand accountability before neutral third parties. The only way to preserve that trust is by requiring sports organisations to undergo rigorous external certification, such as SIGA’s Sport Integrity Rating and Verification System (SIRVS). When society sees that governance is safeguarded by an independent international standard, scepticism recedes. Full transparency is the only antidote to suspicion.
Roberto Fiore
Managing Partner, LP Avvocati (SIGA Member); Member, SIGA Council
Sport can best protect trust by demonstrating accountability and transparency in governance. Trust does not depend on the absence of scandals alone, but on the ability to prevent misconduct, detect it, and respond credibly when it occurs. Strengthening governance, protecting athletes, and ensuring independent oversight should be key priorities. Integrity education must also be promoted from the grassroots level, so that respect for the rules becomes a core value. Ultimately, sport maintains its legitimacy only when fairness and accountability matter more than the result itself.
Anca-Maria Gherghel
Senior Research Manager, EPIC Global Solutions; Co-Chair, SIGA Youth Council
Sports organisations should invest in more long-term anti-racism campaigns and education initiatives that continue beyond major tournaments.
Brian Lewis
Secretary-General, CANOC; Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Gender, Race, Inclusion & Diversity
The adoption of SIGA Universal Standards of Financial Integrity and Sport Betting Integrity and Good Governance
Cecilia Perez Rivas
Former Minister of Justice, Paraguay; Associate Lawyer, Julia Abogados; Master of Laws (LL.M.) wiht Specialisation in Oral Litigation; Lecturer, Metropolitan University of Asunción
The immediate and non-negotiable measure is the mandatory institutionalisation of independent Audit and Compliance Committees with binding authority within every federation. These committees cannot be made up of allies of the current leadership; they must consist of external experts with no connection to the organisation’s internal political structure. If we want a genuine legacy that extends beyond the ninety minutes of a World Cup match, we must decentralise oversight and dismantle monopolies of decision-making. External scrutiny must become an integral part of the institutional design of global sport.
Roberto Fiore
Managing Partner, LP Avvocati (SIGA Member); Member, SIGA Council
The most important step sports organizations should take after the World Cup is to establish permanent mechanisms for independent integrity oversight. Codes of ethics too often lack effective ways to verify implementation. Sports organizations should involve independent experts, academia, and civil society in assessing their integrity policies. Integrity is not strengthened through declarations alone, but through a willingness to subject decisions to independent scrutiny and demonstrate that governance and ethical standards are being implemented effectively.
Anca-Maria Gherghel
Senior Research Manager, EPIC Global Solutions; Co-Chair, SIGA Youth Council
Sport has enormous influence globally, which makes protecting integrity more important than ever to maintain trust, fairness, and respect across the industry.
Brian Lewis
Secretary-General, CANOC; Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Gender, Race, Inclusion & Diversity
There is a need for independent oversight as a necessary check and balance. Accusations of endemic corruption, endemic impunity, fraud, mismanagement, and misappropriation of funds have plagued global sport for years.
Cecilia Perez Rivas
Former Minister of Justice, Paraguay; Associate Lawyer, Julia Abogados; Master of Laws (LL.M.) wiht Specialisation in Oral Litigation; Lecturer, Metropolitan University of Asunción
SIGA’s mission is urgent because sport is facing an unprecedented crisis of institutional capture. The growth of unregulated virtual betting, the influx of capital from questionable sources, and the use of sport as a vehicle for reputation laundering have outpaced the response capacity of traditional sports federations, many of which remain trapped in institutional inertia. In this context, SIGA is the only multi-stakeholder coalition confronting the problem head-on. In the face of complicity, our Universal Standards represent the only framework capable of restoring the legitimacy of global sport.
Roberto Fiore
Managing Partner, LP Avvocati (SIGA Member); Member, SIGA Council
An independent global Sport Integrity movement like SIGA is more relevant than ever. Challenges such as competition manipulation, corruption, illegal betting, and governance shortcomings cannot be addressed by individual organizations alone. SIGA’s value lies in bringing together sports organizations, governments, businesses, and civil society around common standards and shared accountability. At a time when public trust is constantly being tested, SIGA helps ensure that integrity becomes a core governance principle, turning commitments into concrete actions that protect the credibility and social value of sport.
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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.