December 13 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have partnered to raise the level of Sport Integrity within national governments via a research and profile-building project titled ‘A Business Case for Sport Integrity’.
The objective of the partnership is to increase government investment in sport integrity via increasing awareness of government decision-makers. The initiative will gather “empirical evidence and establish a ‘business case’, demonstrating the political, economic and social benefits of protecting the integrity of sport and, notably, the return on investments in this area,” said a SIGA press release.
Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO said: “Sport integrity is not mainly a matter of compliance with standards for elite competitions but an important vector for citizenship, justice and security. We are pleased that SIGA accepted our proposal to use its collective intelligence and convening power to carry out this project of a ‘Business case for investing in sport integrity’.
“In line with the leitmotif of Agenda 2030 to ‘leave no one behind’, the result of this project will help reduce capacity gaps by helping to measure and demonstrate the relevance of sport integrity for specific SDGs and targets.”
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, CEO of SIGA, promoted the government investment in sport integrity as both the “right thing to do”, as well as saying it will yield “significant benefits for governments and its citizens”.
“Governments acknowledge that sport pursues a mission of public interest. It has the potential to positively shape, influence and enrich society, communities and individual lives. It can act as a catalyst for economic development, create revenue streams, employment opportunities and technological advances. It is therefore only logical that Governments support and invest in the protection of integrity of sport in the same way they invest in other key sectors,” he said.
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