SIGA to Organize Integrity and Anti-Corruption in Sport High-Level Special Session on December 14

Geneva, November 25 (QNA) - The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) announced that December 14, will see the joint organization of a Special Session titled "Integrity and Anti-Corruption in Sport," in cooperation with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA). The Special Session will coincide with the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption, to take place in Atlanta, USA, from 11-15 December. Organzing this event comes in the context of promoting integrity, anti-corruption, and compliance in Sport which became one of the priorities on the international anti-corruption agenda. COSP adopted two resolutions dealing with sport in 2017 "Corruption in Sport" and in 2019 "Safeguarding Sport from Corruption". In the Political Declaration of the special session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS 2021), member States declared safeguarding sport from corruption as one of their important goals. Hosted by the Georgia World Congress Center, the high-level panel session will see the participation of SIGA Chair, G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group co-Chair Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, SIGA Global CEO Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA Global COO Katie Simmonds, and IACA Faculty Member, Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law Andrew Spalding, to be moderated by IACA Officer-in-Charge Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz. The Special Session will discuss an array of topics, including: identifying areas and relationships vulnerable to corruption and related crimes in Sport, analyzing modern trends of corruption and other crimes in Sport, Sharing effective strategies and best practices for promoting integrity and preventing corruption within sports organizations, and discussing the roles of governments, international organizations, and sports bodies in promoting integrity and anti-corruption in Sport. SIGA Vice Chairman Mohammed Hanzab said that according to a 2021 report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, estimated illicit sport betting globally amounting to USD 1.7 trillion annually, something that requires enhancing international efforts to take serious steps towards law enforcement and fighting corruption. Hanzab added that since its founding in 2016 thanks to a Qatari initiative, SIGA has been supporting United Nations efforts in combating corruption and organized crime in sports, highlighting the State of Qatar's advanced position in this regard. The SIGA Vice Chairman said that this participation comes to expand SIGA's international partnership, especially after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with IACA back in June, aimed at capacity building, exchanging information, and providing technical assistance to sports organizations and federations in the combat of corruption in sports. (QNA) In turn, SIGA’s Global CEO Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros commented, "There’s no point in denying the reality: Sport is more vulnerable and exposed than ever to corruption, money laundering and criminal infiltration. These threats are global, complex, increasingly sophisticated, and often involve transnational organized crime. Threats like these can’t be tackled by Sport alone. To win this fight, we need to move away from old mentalities, old rhetoric and old territorial feelings and adopt a complete shift of paradigm. We need to move from obsolete legislation and fragmented approaches into an up-to-date, robust, efficient, global regulatory framework, and action-oriented, result-driven, inclusive cooperation, at both national and international levels." (QNA)