By Jonathan Rest
Attempts to create a unified approach to dealing with corrupt practices in sport were stepped up today with the creation of a draft set of integrity standards from the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, an independent organisation presently numbering more than 70 members.
SIGA said it will spend the next few months on a wide-ranging consultation process with stakeholders throughout all areas of the sports industry before a final draft is published and the next steps can be implemented.
While a number of big organisations are supporting SIGA’s efforts – the likes of LaLiga, the Commonwealth Games Federation, MasterCard, Deloitte, the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, the European Professional Football Leagues, the Portuguese Olympic Committee and Dow Jones – questions remain as to exactly what influence and impact the universal standards will have on the industry.
SIGA representatives said today that sports bodies will be “encouraged to embrace, adopt and implement” the universal standards, but there appears little will to enforce change upon organisations and sanction those that do not comply.
Instead, it is understood that SIGA hopes it can eventually be viewed as some kind of kitemark for sport, a showcase of excellence in integrity and governance, and thus organisations will feel compelled to come on board.
Simon Greenberg, global head of rights at News Corp and head of Dow Jones Sport, which hosted today’s launch in London, said: “The truth is we don’t know what SIGA will be because only our supporters and sport will decide that. If the universal standards come to a final form and sport across the board adopts part of them, all of them or none of them because they’ve already got robust governance programmes themselves, then ultimately the decision around the sanction lies with the sporting organisations.
“What we are trying to promote is a universal set of standards that we believe are applicable across all sport… From there sport should be able to govern itself. That is the ultimate goal of everybody; that sport governs itself and the autonomy of sport is protected.”
The SIGA Council was reticent to reveal identities when asked whether the biggest sports organisations, the likes of the International Olympic Committee and Fifa, backed the initiative, but James Cottrell, a partner at Deloitte, did reveal that the governments of USA, UK, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and China were among those in favour.
He added: “I cannot think of a single organisation we have approached that has not engaged meaningfully. That does not necessarily mean they’ve signed on as supporters.”
Asked by Sportcal whether, in the wake of revelations of a state-backed doping programme, the Russian government had been approached, Emmanuel Macedo de Medeiros, chief executive of the International Centre for Sport Security Europe, replied: “No. There are over 200 governments on the planet, but we are open to discuss our vision with any government to whom integrity and good governance is a priority.”
The draft standards cover good governance in sporting organisations, financial integrity and sports betting integrity.
Within good governance, sports organisations are encouraged to: have a democratically elected leadership; publish full financial reports; embrace transparency; encourage and protect whistleblowers; and identify and disclose conflicts of interest.
The universal standards address three pillars of financial integrity – transparency, sustainability and responsibility – while sports betting integrity focuses on four key stakeholder groups: government; sports organisations; betting regulators; and betting operators.
De Medeiros, who insisted SIGA will have “no commercial purpose,” added: “This is a strong indisputable call for action. We all know what the problems are and we are committed to do our share to help the sports industry restore its place at the podium, to put governance and integrity at the top.
“Working in isolation is not the solution. Fragmented approaches are not the answer. We need an independent, holistic, coordinated approach. We are in a critical moment.”