Securing Sport 2013 conference to address

Doha – Qatar, Feb 12, 2013: Chris Eaton, Securing Sport 2013, the leading international sport security and integrity conference taking place next month, will be directly addressing issues relating to international betting and the measures sport federations need to undertake to stay ahead.

Taking place on March 18-19 in Doha, Securing Sport 2013 will bring together 400 international experts and stakeholders to share knowledge and best practice in sport, safety, security and integrity under the theme of “Advancing the security and integrity of sport to safeguard the future”.

Chris Eaton, Director of Sport Integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), will lead the panel session entitled, The Internationalization of Betting – Keeping Ahead of the Curve. Joining him on the panel are Professor Emre Alkin, General Secretary of the Turkish Football Federation; Paul Scotney, Director & Integrity Consultant at Sports Integrity Services; and Friedrich Stickler, President of the European Lotteries Association.

“As we have seen last week with the information released by Europol and the following discussions all over the world, sport is under unprecedented attack from criminals and opportunists who conspire to manipulate the results of competitions around the world,” said Mr Eaton.

The Internationalization of Betting panel session at Securing Sport 2013 will examine how the world of sports betting is becoming continually more difficult to track and how international crime is infiltrating betting markets. Panelists will discuss how sport federations, European lotteries, and betting operators are committed to preserving the integrity of betting markets and of sport and how they can work in collaboration to stop the infiltration of international crime.

Another panel session, Elite Sport at a Cost: Is Sport Protecting its Elite at the Expense of its Integrity? will include Bill Bock, General Counsel at the US Anti-Doping Agency. This session will look at events over the past 12 months and how educating elite athletes can help protect the integrity of sport.

To underline the importance of the integrity topics to be discussed, Securing Sport 2013 will also offer a workshop entitled Targeting Asian Betting Markets. This focused workshop will allow interested delegates to discuss and debate tailored solutions in sports betting and how the industry can support the development of effective programmes and governance in this area.

Mr Helmut Spahn, Executive Director of the ICSS, said: “Sporting integrity has never been as important or crucial. Chris Eaton’s panel on international betting is an un-missable session at Securing Sport 2013. I look forward to welcoming organizations from around the world, including international governing bodies, mega-event experts and world-class international athletes, for what I am sure will be an important platform for sharing information and exploring best practice in the field of sport, safety, security and integrity.”

Other high-profile speakers and leading figures already confirmed for this year’s conference include:

• Denis Oswald, President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the International Rowing Federation (FISA)

• Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™

• Gérard Houllier OBE, Head of Global Soccer, Red Bull

• Alexander Atamanenko, CEO, Donbass Arena, Donetsk

• Lord Stevens, Chairman, ICSS Advisory Board and former Commissioner London’s Metropolitan Police

• Alessandro Del Piero, winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and Captain of the Save the Dream elite athletes team

• Sylvia Schenk, Senior Advisor for Sport, Transparency International

• John Amaechi OBE, Managing Director, Amaechi Performance Systems —- ICSS