June 8 – Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), speaking at the opening of a conference on safeguarding sport from corruption in Vienna emphasised that investing in fighting corruption in sport was an investment in our economic and social future.
The two-day event brought together more than 250 participants from national law enforcement agencies, anti-corruption and sport organisations as well as private sector entities of over 60 countries.
“There is a growing understanding and appreciation that actions taken to safeguard sport from corruption in fact represent an investment, with clear economic and social benefits,” said Fedotov, emphasising the need to share resources and good practices.
“Together we can promote integrity, stop criminals from exploiting sport for illicit gain and harness the power of sport as a force for development and peace.”
Fedotov highlighted UNODC’s work to tackle corruption in sport and emphasised the importance of partnerships with the IOC and FIFA to promote sports integrity worldwide.
The conference specifically addressed challenges including detecting corruption and enforcement, overcoming corruption in public procurement, addressing match-fixing and countering convergences with other crimes such as cybercrime, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Fedotov spoke of the importance of the adoption of resolution 7/8 on Corruption in Sport at the seventh session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption in November 2017.
Supported by 183 States parties to the Convention, the resolution is a significant milestone in addressing corruption in sport. It sets out a wide range of issues that need to be addressed and measures to tackle this problem, including procurement, organization of sport events, match-fixing, illegal betting, protection of reporting person and good governance.
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