SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has met with the International Forum for Sports (IFSI) in Lausanne to discuss athlete protections with regards to sports integrity, as the governing bodies aim to create a Sport Integrity 2020 Agenda.
Prior to the meeting the two bodies announced the launch of the Integrity & Compliance Hotline for stakeholders in professional sports, which will aim to report violations or misconducts which directly affect sports integrity. The users of the Hotline will be guaranteed 100% anonymity, and will be accessible through all communication verticals.
Following its research and workshops the IFSI has called for greater protection against illegal betting in sport. The IFSI will aim to deliver a roadmap on strengthening and coordinating athlete and sports stakeholder protection against match fixing and betting corruption
The Forum called on European and non-European governments to sign the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, which particularly ensures that domestic laws enable criminal investigations and sanctioning of the manipulation of sports competitions when it involves either coercive, corrupt or fraudulent practices.
Along with the IOC, the IFSI wants a deeper involvement of international governments and international policing organisations to cooperate in the fight against match fixing and sports corruption.
Representatives from the European Union, INTERPOL, Europol and the United Nations attended the meeting in Lausanne.
The IFSI called for the creation of “national platforms” in line with those outlined in the Council of Europe Convention that would facilitate cooperation between all stakeholders. Additionally, the IOC’s IBIS has to be integrated within this network of “national platforms”.
