Our work on sport
What's at stake?
The worrying number of scandals across many sports damages not only the image of sport, its federations and representatives, but compromises the positive influence sport has in spreading the values of good sportsmanship and integrity, especially for young people. So working to eliminate corruption in sport goes to the very heart of our mission.
What we’re doing about it
Sports and corruption is a new area of focus. We published our first working paper in 2009, called Corruption and Sport: Building Integrity and Preventing Abuses. Since then we have developed a growing reputation in the area, participating in global conferences on topics ranging from how to prevent corruption when organising large sporting events such as the Olympics to ways to prevent match fixing.
Following well-publicised corruption scandals at FIFA, world football’s governing body, we wrote a report that we submitted to FIFA outlining specific, concrete actions the organisation should take to repair its reputation. Safe Hands: Building Integrity and Transparency at FIFA built on our experience working on preventing corruption in the private sector – football is a global business worth more than $1.2 billion – and combined it with our expertise in the world of sport.
We made a similar submission to the International Cricket Council’s governance review in early 2012 – signed by 12 chapters from cricketing countries and coordinated by Transparency International UK.
Who’s involved
Sylvia Schenk is Transparency International’s senior advisor for sport. She is a former Olympic runner, has been chair of our German chapter and was the first woman president of the German Cycling Federation and member of the management committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI). Deryck Murray, Director of Transparency International’s chapter in Trinidad and Tobago (TTTI), is a former member of the West Indies Cricket Team, and was captain of Cambridge University and Trinidad and Tobago teams.
We also have many chapters tackling different areas of corruption and sport.
Some chapters are piloting programmes that address education and anti-corruption, others are organising conferences about sport and corruption. These are some examples of recent activities:
- Our chapter in Turkey organised a conference on corruption in football in March 2012
- Our chapter in Netherlands organised a conference on corruption and sport in cooperation with the Dutch National Olympic Committee
- Our chapters in Lithuania and Italy are developing education programmes to tackle corruption in sport.
- Our chapter in Germany advises the German Professional Football League (DFL) on the project “Transparency and Integrity in Football”, which focuses on how to prevent match-fixing
Our approach
In sports we use the same approach that is our hallmark: we try to bring together all the interested parties to discuss the importance of developing strong anti-corruption and anti-bribery codes and practices. Our approach is one of consultation and collaboration.
Although we are not working directly with FIFA, we have talked to them and our recommendations have been taken into consideration in their reform process.
The work of our chapters in sport is just beginning. But the principle is the same. Transparency is the first defence against corruption and education is the best form of prevention. By operating transparently, organisations communicate their values and policies to the people they represent and to the public, and show their values translated into actions. By educating all those involved – from players and officials to managers and administrators – on ethical practices, you can help stop corruption before it starts.
Timeline and results
- March 2009: Transparency International published Corruption and Sport: Building Integrity and Preventing Abuses
- 2009 – 2011: Sylvia Schenk served as part of a working group for the GRI Sector Supplement on Events
- August 2011: publication of our recommendations for world football’s governing body, Safe Hands: Building Integrity and Transparency at FIFA
- January 2012: International Cricket Council Governance Review
- March 2012: Sylvia Schenk invited to UN Global Compact sub-working group on “Sport Sponsoring and Hospitality”
- November 2012: 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference Sports Plenary and Sport and Corruption stream
More…
For more information on what we are doing to prevent corruption in sport, please contact:
Deborah Unger
Manager, Rapid Response Unit
dunger@transparency.org
or
Thomas Coombes
Senior Communications Officer
tcoombes@transparency.org
