The Parliamentary Assembly of The Council of Europe adopts a strong position to promote sports integrity

Lausanne, 27 April 2012 - There were two sports integrity matters on the agenda of the European members of Parliament’s spring session this week. Firstly, a resolution was voted to stress the threat of match-fixing which is currently growing rapidly throughout Europe. Secondly, a text was presented and adopted that questions the conditions of good governance within sports organisations.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called for the adoption of mechanisms to limit the risk of match-fixing, illegal betting and other forms of corruption. This problem and the illicit profits from sports betting are "jeopardising public order and the rule of law." The resolution stresses the importance for the sports community to better tackle this threat: international sports federations should act together in a coordinated manner to combat match-fixing, prohibit sportspeople and officials from betting on competitions in which they are involved, and draw up guidelines to ensure that sportspeople undergo awareness-raising and training.

The other issue on the agenda was good governance in sports, with a report that proposes a comprehensive set of guidelines on good governance and ethics in sport for international and national sports bodies to apply. These cover a wide range of issues such as financial fair play, protection of young sports participants, and the very core issue of improving transparency and accountability in sport’s managing bodies. A specific emphasis is put on FIFA for which is stressed the urgency of increasing significantly the Ethics Committee’s investigative powers.

SportAccord welcomes those two reports with a lot of interest. There is an urgent need of education amongst the sports movement on betting related matters, which is a pillar of SportAccord’s Global Programme to Stop Match-fixing in Sports. The issue of good governance also has to be addressed carefully as it is a condition of preserving the autonomy of sports and of defending the values of sport. This matter will be addressed at the upcoming LawAccord that takes place within the framework of the SportAccord Convention in Quebec in May 2012.

· Access SportAccord’s Global Programme to Stop Match-Fixing in Sports: http://integrity.sportaccord.com/en/

· Access the agenda of LawAccord, 22 May 2012: http://www.sportaccordconvention.com/#P71.

For further information, please contact:

Ms Sarah LACARRIERE, Integrity Officer, Sports Integrity Unit

sarah.lacarriere@sportaccord.com

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