FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN SPORT

With increasingly huge sums in play, whether in terms merchandising, sponsorship, betting or athlete salaries, the seduction of and vulnerability to corrupt behaviour has grown. The sport world has responded slowly and, to date, inadequately. It is as serious a threat as doping; only it has the potential to inflict much greater damage on the sport world and the communities, representing billions of people globally, that support it.

The European Union and other international organisations, as well as international sporting associations like the FIFA, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), have started to deal with the problem of match-fixing and are working closely together with the betting industry. These are laudable efforts, but the phenomenon runs deeper than match-fixing. There is a need to address the conflicts of interest that are part and parcel of a familial network of athletic officials that spans the globe.  Also few national sports associations seem to see it as their task to address match-fixing as part of promoting integrity in sport.

While statements have been made and ethical codes adopted, what is missing is rigorous enforcement and follow-through, including the systematic ejection of tainted officials. For preventing and eliminating corruption it is important to know the scope of corruption and areas where it occurs. Knowing this it is also important to know patterns under which corruption is predominantly performed. This simple request is not easy to fulfill. When corruption is regarded it is very difficult everywhere, in all sectors of society, to get reliable figures. Especially to get police and judicial statistics, which is successfully used in many other areas of crime and social pathology. Detected or reported corruption is always only an iceberg of the whole problem and not always indicates correctly areas where corruption is most widespread. A comprehensive study of this issue would be most desirable.

It appears that corruption can be found in almost any imaginable areas of sport. The main areas are match fixing, embezzlement or misusing of sport funds, corruption in hosting of games, corruption in changing sport results, corruption in transfers of players, corrupted elections in sporting bodies. There are also situations where high sport officials are convicted of corruption in their non-sport activities which is not corruption in sport itself but it certainly influences the sport life. We also keep aside a role of politics in sport which might be very close to political corruption of sport. It represents another very interesting and controversial issue of sport closely related to the issue of corruption in sport.

Ethical and integrity aspect including risk of corruption and corruption prevention principles should become a part of sport education and training. While many manifestations of corruption in sport may be ambiguous there are many acts of corruption in sport which can be prosecuted under existing international legislations. As Council of Europe and United Nations conventions provide rather sufficient framework for corruption investigation and prosecution it is highly recommended to adhere to these convention for countries which have not done so yet.

Transparency is one of the most powerful tools against corruption. Any measure which will make sport life, including sport financing, more transparent should be supported and promoted. National subsidies provided by government to sport can be used as a tool for requesting increased transparency. Having in mind limited possibilities of governments to intervene to internal sport life also other measures should be explored. For instance big sponsors and marketing partners might be encouraged to play an important role in promoting transparency in sport. To avoid risk that they will be perceived negatively together with corrupted sport in the case of corruption scandals they may connect their support to the sport organization with demands on bigger transparency. The power of money can be in this way put to the service of a good purpose.

Risk assessments and integrity issues need to be looked after very carefully. In that regard, sport has not kept up with general efforts against corruption in society. Only recently has sport begun to develop anti-corruption mechanisms. Overall, the existing values of sport should be sufficient to tackle sports integrity issues, but there is a big need for interpretation and common sense to bring values and rules to life. Multinational companies, which are  often sponsors of sport, are working on rules on hospitality. Transparency plays a crucial role as it makes the decision-making process comprehensible, something that would be highly beneficial when major sport events are awarded.

Conclusions

The prominent public profile and publicity that sport receives, globally and locally, have the potential to support as well as undermine the fight against corruption if it is not properly addressed. If people get accustomed to seeing corruption in sport, they may begin to lose hope in changing the situation they face in other areas of society that are also plagued by abuses. Yet if the sporting industry can successfully recognise the risks posed and tackle the current problems, combating corruption in different aspects of daily life could be bolstered.

Part of the work on sport and corruption must focus on how governments behave. Many governments use the success of their athletes and good performance at international sporting events as a proxy to prove their power as a nation. Countries, often with low levels of transparency and accountability, focus particularly on competition in sporting events in order to put their country on the international map and use these events as an act of national pride and state building. International sporting organisations use the global fascination with sport and its heroes to help build sporting teams and infrastructure in developing countries. However, this should happen in a transparent way. Otherwise, structures that create corruption risks could be supported or established instead of being reformed.

The other side of anti-corruption work must look at how the structure and operation of clubs and teams are contributing to low levels of transparency, accountability and integrity. The claim for autonomy from the state may protect national sport bodies from being politically misused but it also may prevent accountability in their decision-making processes. High levels of public funding are given to sport through governments in most countries. Yet a lack of oversight means that an important part of the economy and a sizeable share of public funds are not sufficiently being disclosed and often are left free from adequate controls both by professional associations or democratically elected bodies.

Moving the agenda forward on sport and corruption will depend on the ability of sporting authorities, team owners, event rights holders, sponsors and all the key actors to take decisive actions that promote transparency, accountability and integrity in their decisions and policies. Initiatives to promote such a response could be based on the areas identified as high-risk corruption and areas in which clear anti-coruption policies could help to shift the rules of the game. The following interventions are possible ideas for implementing the work:

Match-Fixing

• Adoption of anti-corruption instruments such as Transparency International's Business Principles for Countering Bribery, to collaborate with the international gaming industry to prevent abuses and corruption.

Organised Crime

• Partnerships with international organisations and anti-corruption/anti-fraud entities nationally, regionally (i.e. the EU) and globally that can address international crime in sport, especially in connection with the betting industry.

Governance

• Partnerships between civil society organisations and sporting associations, events and teams in activities that promote increased accountability and help to produce good practice guidelines and other initiatives.
• Promote the values provided by sport and their use in educational initiatives, especially in collaboration with young athletes.
• Establishment of anti-corruption approaches in international sporting organisations, such as in their charters, constitutions and codes of conduct for members.
• Promotion of due diligence and transparency on the part of team and club owners.

Transfers

• Promotion of clear regulations and transparency in player transfers and the employment market.

Construction

• Use of integrity pacts and similar citizen-monitoring mechanisms for infrastructure projects and contracting done as part of large sporting events.
• Implementation of 'bidding integrity pacts' for the awarding of sporting events, including the selection of cities and countries as hosts.
• Provision of oversight of state funds, and monitoring of the effectiveness of preparatory work for key events, especially regarding construction projects, decision-making processes and flow of funds.

Sponsorships

• Awareness-raising among sporting associations, teams, coaches, players and citizens that close links between politics and sporting organisations/leaders can lead to corrupt practices.
• Development of a code of conduct and rules for the use of VIP invitations, ticket distribution and how rights to sporting events are awarded.
• Promotion of ethics in sport as part of sponsors' corporate responsibility programmes.

Media

• Awareness-raising in the media to highlight their important role in tackling unethical behaviour and corruption in sport and the risks associated with loss of media independence.
• Partnerships between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and journalists to address corruption in sport and media's own related work in terms of transparency (or lack thereof), such as when selling television rights for events.