January 16 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and SIGA Europe will hold its host its Financial Integrity and Transparency within Sport (FITS) Forum January 27 in Lisbon, Portugal.
It is the second time that SIGA has held its FITS Forum, following on from the first event in New Year last June.
The Lisbon event is being organised in conjunction with and hosted by PwC Portugal. Topics covered will include the regulation of multi-club ownership, the impact of investment funds in European football, the Clearing House System for financial transactions, and the role of the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in safeguarding sport.
The New York FITS Forum was sponsored by law firm Winston & Shawn with partner Richard Weber who led the 2015 FIFAgate investigation one the key speakers.
Weber, who was former chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation in the US, will be back in action in Lisbon with other confirmed speakers being:
- António Brochado Correia, Territory City Partner at PwC
- César Chaparro Yedro, Head of FIFA’s Clearing House
- Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, CEO of SIGA
- Giovanni Tartaglia Polcino, Chair of SIGA and Co-Chair of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group
- Luís Neves, National Director of the Judicial Police (PJ)
- Luís Ribeiro, Criminal Investigation Coordinator at PJ
- Nicola Allocca, Chairman of the Business at OECD Anti-Corruption Committee
The FITS Forum takes place just a few days before SIGA celebrates its eighth year since foundation.
The FITS Forum in New York culminated in a declaration that in many ways provides a benchmark for and pathway to cleaner sport. In many ways Lisbon is a first measuring post of whether and which sports and governments have heard the message.
The text of that New York declaration is below:
“We call on all Sport Governing Bodies, Leagues and Key Stakeholders, as well as Governments, International Organisations, Global Business and Civil Society to act assertively, in accordance with their sphere of responsibilities and field of intervention, to:
- Affiliate with the critical mass pushing for the much-needed reforms, by joining SIGA and actively engage in and support its vital mission to ensure a sustainable, prosperous, inclusive and accessible future, built upon the pillars of Good Governance, Integrity, Transparency and Accountability;
- Enhance the legislative and regulatory frameworks of Sport Organisations by promoting, adopting and incorporating the SIGA Universal Standards on Good Governance in Sport, Financial Integrity in Sport, Sports Betting Integrity and Youth Development and Protection in Sport;
- Ensure that all Sport Organisations, including international and national Sport Governing Bodies, International and National Competition Organisers and other relevant stakeholders, comply with the aforementioned SIGA Universal Standards and undergo the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS);
- Support SIGA’s call and efforts to establish a Global Independent Clearing House to facilitate and ensure the indispensable Integrity and Transparency of capital investment and financial transactions in Sport, at national and international level;
- Align behind and support SIGA’s efforts to establish a Sport Integrity Fund that is backed by the entire Sport Industry and Legislative and Judicial Systems. This fund would receive contributions from various sources, including allocating a percentage of revenues generated from the commercial exploitation of broadcasting rights, sponsorship deals, and Sport Betting Revenues to fund Sport Integrity initiatives, including the delivery of the necessary Training, Education and Capacity Building;
- To make the process more transparent and strengthen the rules regarding the award of hosting Major Sporting Events and the execution of Sponsorship Deals and Commercial Arrangements.
- Review the existing legislation and international agreements with the aim of closing existing gaps in combating corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crimes affecting Sport and the wider sporting industry, including but not limited to the incorporation of adequate provisions related to ultimate beneficial owners and the use of offshore entities and anonymous instruments, such as crypto-assets; and
- Ensure that any investment or allocation of public funding to Sport, or any other sector, irrespective of intent, is conducted with absolute Transparency, Accountability and Oversight and subject to the confirmation that the respective recipients respect and are conformed with the SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity.”
For more information and to register for the January 27 FITS Forum in Lisbon, click here.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1737000093labto1737000093ofdlr1737000093owedi1737000093sni@n1737000093osloh1737000093cin.l1737000093uap1737000093
