By Paul Nicholson
September 7 – Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros (pictured), CEO of ICSS Europe and Latin America, closed the FITS Forum last week with a powerful and passionate call for an international, independent and neutral clearing house for sport related financial transactions. His call was backed by ICSS president Mohammed Hanzab who said that the world needs an independent, neutral global integrity body.
After two days of sometimes heated discussion at the first FITS (financial integrity ad transparency in sport) Forum, there was no-one left in the WIPO centre in Geneva that, as Medieros said, could be in any doubt of “the dangers that come with obsolete legislation, poor governance, ineffective supervision and lax attitude from sports governing bodies, governments and financial supervision authorities”.
Medeiros concluded that a five-point plan was needed that included:
– an in-depth, serious governance reform.
– club licensing systems with appropriate financial criteria for professional clubs, implemented across all confederations, as well as national associations and professional leagues.
– an international, independent and neutral clearing house for sport related financial transactions.
– a system in place whereby there is integrity and transparency in the ownership of clubs.
– an independent, neutral and global integrity body.
The ICSS will release its full FITS report early next year which, Medeiros said, “will include actionable recommendations for all stakeholders to promote integrity and transparency across sport.”
In terms of a global body to oversee, mould and advise on the new world of integrity that everyone from law enforcers and politicians to federations and leagues agreed needed to happen – a kind of World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) for integrity – clearly the only body capable of getting close to that at present would be the ICSS (the international centre for sport security).
If the pitch for the role wasn’t overt, certainly delegates were left in no doubt that the ICSS is positioned for a key role in the futures.
“The ICSS is ready. Ready and eager to help any person or organisation that wants to take meaningful action in the name of transparency and integrity. We have the expertise. We have the experience. We have the resources. And we want to work with you. All of you,” said Medeiros. “We have now a unique opportunity to do what’s right.”
It was high octane stuff and if the elephant in the room was still suspicion around the Qatari backing of the ICSS, the high-level delegate list and the frequent statements of the need for independence went a long way to dispelling suspicions. Along with the most open debate yet in a public forum about what change was required.
“Words of contrition, creation of salvation task forces and recycled old promises of reform every time sport is hit by a fresh scandal won’t safeguard its reputation. We are all fed up of fancy words and excuses. What we need is action! Urgent action!” said Medeiros.
“If every sport is to feature complete financial integrity transparency, then those five action-points, those five key reforms, are absolutely vital…So now is the time for action. Now is the time for all of us to come together and make a difference. Now is the time to do everything we can to protect the sports we love.”
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