INTEGRITY AND ANTI-CORRUPTION COMPLIANCE IN SPORT

The promotion of integrity, anti-corruption and compliance in sport has become one of the priorities in the international anti-corruption agenda.

In the UNGASS Political Declaration:

““Our common commitment to effectively addressing challenges and implementing measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation”, states declared safeguarding sport from corruption as one of the goals.

In 2022, the Italian presidency in the G20 ACWG put this theme on the agenda.

A rule, domestic laws promote fair play, integrity, accountability, and transparency in sport.

For the analysis of legal regulation at the domestic level, sport laws, anti-corruption, administrative, criminal, civil, tax and other laws and regulations should be considered.

Some countries have special requirements, guidelines, and recommendations on anti-corruption compliance in organizations, applicable to sports organizations.Depending on the legal framework, countries establish administrative, criminal, or civil liability for corruption in sport and some other types of misconduct closely related to corruption.

IACA conducted a preliminary analysis of publicly available information on corruption cases and other violations in sports and identified types of relationships vulnerable to various corrupt practices for further in-depth research.For designing and implementing effective and efficient integrity and anti-corruption compliance programmes in sports organizations it is crucial to understand and consider the motivation of different stakeholders for engaging in corruption and other unethical behaviour.

Code of ethics and integrity and compliance programmes of sports organizations should promote fair play, non-discrimination, and equal rights of all categories of athletes, protect youth and other vulnerable groups.

As a rule, integrity and compliance programmes of sports organizations contain policies on fair play, prevention of match fixing, the use of doping and other specific corrupt practices.

The research team will analyse available codes of ethics, integrity and compliance programmes of sports organizations, and conduct interviews with managers and compliance professionals to identify best practices in designing, implementing, maintaining, and evaluating anti-corruption compliance management systems.

International Anti-Corruption Academy IACA

John Galarani

Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, August 24, 2024.