In a major step forward in the battle to protect integrity in sport, UNESCO has concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) to address corruption and match-fixing on a global level.
The partnership will see the organizations work together across a range of initiatives including:
Developing international and national capacities to prevent and fight the manipulation of sport competition. This will encompass methodologies for sport integrity standards and good practice; mechanisms for enhanced cooperation and information sharing; and educational programmes, executive training and public awareness raising
Support for the implementation of outcomes from the 5th UNESCO World Conference of Sport Ministers (MINEPS V), the Declaration of Berlin on ‘Preserving the Integrity of Sport’, which was adopted in Germany earlier this year. This will include the promotion of actions by governments, the sport movement, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, law enforcement agencies, the betting industry and athletes in line with the Berlin Declaration
The development of international and national capabilities to prevent violence in connection with sport, notably through social inclusion projects
The collaboration will also seek to mobilise government support for the development of guiding principles in the field of sport integrity, building on the current work developed by the ICSS and University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.
Alexander Schischlik, Team Leader of UNESCO’s Anti-Doping and Sport Programme, said: "Individual nations can’t prevent international threats to sport integrity but collectively they can. With its international expertise, the ICSS is a strategic partner for UNESCO in the area of manipulation of sport competitions. Together we can enhance our scientific, multi-stakeholder approach to this problem."
Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, said: "This is a historical moment for the ICSS and the UNESCO-ICSS partnership will enable us to drive forward the sport integrity agenda. This agreement is being developed for the benefit of sport.
"Through UNESCO’s intergovernmental mandate and influence, the ICSS’s ongoing work for and commitment to the eradication of corruption in sport now takes a significant step forward."
Massimiliano Montanari, Director International Cooperation and External Relations, ICSS, said: "This new agreement integrates the authority of the United Nations with the informed and innovative capabilities of an international, neutral and non-governmental organization, such as the ICSS. A combination of coordinated efforts by key organizations will be important in promoting cooperation amongst the different sectors, all to protect sport.
"The ICSS looks forward to working closely with UNESCO in the development of tangible outcomes from this agreement. We need to ensure that young people grow up aware of integrity in sport; that they are inspired to participate in true and fair competition and are educated through the protection of the true values of sport."
For more information contact:Will Shand, VERO Communications
wshand@verocom.co.uk
M: +44 77 52 73 1548
Karen Webb, Director of Communications, ICSS
karen.webbmoss@theicss.org
M: +974 7070 6306 / +44 7966 091 698
Ms Sue Williams, Head of Media Relations, UNESCO
s.williams@unesco.org
P: +33145681706
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
20 Years at #1:
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
