Spanish Sport Council and ICSS host Sport Integrity Workshop to discuss growing trends to combat sport corruption

By Will Shand, Madrid, Spain, Sept 29, 2015: As part of its efforts to combat the threat of match-fixing and corruption in sport, the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) and International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) hosted a special forum yesterday, gathering leading administrators from Spanish sport to discuss ongoing efforts to safeguard the integrity of sport at a national and global level.

Building on the agreement signed between the two organisations in June 2014, the CSD and ICSS hosted professional clubs, federations and other institutions from across the Spanish sport to discuss a number of emerging areas facing the integrity of sport in Spain and internationally.

Topics that were discussed at the closed-door forum included:

• Established and Growing Global Trends in Sport Results Manipulation
• Differences Between Sport Results Manipulation motivated by Betting Fraud and Sporting Influence
• The Role of Sport Betting Fraud and Transnational Organised Crime to Match-Fixing
• Best Practice in Identifying and Investigating Match-Fixing and Sport Betting Fraud
• How to Recognise and Correct Vulnerable Sport Governing Bodies, Sport Betting Businesses and Investigations into Sport Corruption

Presentations were also delivered by Emanuel Medeiros (CEO of ICSS EUROPE & LATIN AMERICA) on the ICSS Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Global Project, as well asMichael Hershman (ICSS Advisory Board Member and Co-Founder, Transparency International) on the forthcoming Sport Industry Transparency Initiative (SITI).

Throughout the one day seminar, the ICSS called on organisations to introduce four key principles at a national and international level to protect the integrity of sport.

These principles included:

• Be Aware – Organisations working in sport should be informed about the national, regional and global influences targeting sport within the host and neighbouring countries

• Be Prepared – Stakeholders conducting business in the sports industry should be capable of recognising, resisting and reacting to attempted and successful infiltration by organised crime on and off the field of play.

• Be Connected – Organisations working in sport should be connected to other sports and information platforms at national and international level, as well as the support services on offer to protect the integrity of your sport

• Be Clean – By showing that sports organisations are aware, prepared and connected, it is essential for internal and external stakeholders at a regional and national level to know about these commitments through policy and to ensure integrity and honesty within governance structures and competitions.

Miguel Cardenal Carro, President of Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) said:

“The Consejo Superior de Deportes and ICSS are united in safeguarding sport and this workshop was an important opportunity to gather key administrators from different sports across Spain to discuss integrity in sport and learn from the international expertise of the ICSS.

“Looking ahead, I hope that participants at the session will go away and share what they have learnt with senior decision-makers in their organisation and apply the four key principles reinforced by the ICSS during this workshop. On behalf of the CSD, I would like to thank the ICSS and look forward to building on our collaboration with them to safeguard sport in Spain.”

Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, said:

“This integrity seminar was an important platform to gather influential figures from Spanish sport in one room and discuss how to better recognise, resist and respond to corruption issues, both on and off the field of play.

“However, this ICSS-CSD Sport Integrity Workshop is only the beginning. It is essential now that those who attended go back to their member organisations and share the four key principles the ICSS have highlighted and ensure that they are advocated and implemented right throughout their organisation.

“As a government that has directly engaged the ICSS, I would like to thank and commend the CSD for their efforts in safeguarding sport and would encourage other governments to show the same proactive leadership that the CSD have shown and introduce stronger legislation to fight corruption and match-fixing in sport.”