Portuguese and Spanish press join the fight for integrity in sport

The Portuguese dailies A Bola, O Jogo and Record, and Spanish daily AS accepted the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) invitation to become permanent Media Partners, extending to a new level the bond created earlier this year.

The joint initiative aims to create greater public awareness of Good Governance, Financial Integrity, Sports Betting Integrity, and Youth Education and Child Protection, the four pillars of SIGA’s universal standards.

Having gathered 28 Media Partners for Sport Integrity Week 2021 (13-17 September), SIGA continues to forge ahead and unite all those seeking reform in sport, in order to tackle criminal infiltration. The four daily sports newspapers now announced as permanent SIGA Media Partners join the Malaysian digital newspaper twentytwo13.my, the Portuguese National Sport Press Club (CNID), and the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) and other soon-to-be-announced partners.

Rivals on the newsstands where newspapers compete, the new permanent Media Partners of SIGA come together for a common cause, as explained by Fernando Urbano, editor-in-chief of A Bola, the oldest sports newspaper in Portugal:

“A Bola continues to partner with SIGA as a media partner, considering that all efforts to provide sport with greater transparency will always be worthwhile and will have our unequivocal support."

José Manuel Ribeiro, director of O Jogo, also made his motivations clear:

“We are proud to renew our association with SIGA knowing that we will at least make life a little more difficult every day for those who are dedicated to destroying the fantastic world of sport“.

Bernardo Ribeiro, Record director, points out the connection between Integrity in Sport and other aspects of life and society:

“Record is proud to partner with all organisations that work towards a sport industry that is clean of criminal infiltration, with high standards on good governance and child protection. That is why we are committed to being SIGA permanent Media Partners, as SIGA is a coalition of like-minded organisations, with no other goal than implementing Sport Integrity. We, at Record, believe journalism is one of the pillars of democracy, and that the Media has not only the power, but also the responsibility to scrutinize and hold all those in leadership roles accountable. Integrity in Sport may be a path to Integrity in all other aspects of our lives.”

Vicente Jimenez, director of AS, emphasised he wants “to support good practices in the world of sport”, and that “the media can play an important role in defending good governance and responsibility“. “SIGA is a reference regarding those standards, and this fight for Integrity is essential because without Integrity there is no sport.”

With more than 100 million monthly unique visitors, the leader in South America and with an edition in English that makes it influential in the US, AS adds the universal relevance of SIGA to the impact of around 500 million monthly views of the Portuguese newspapers. A Bola, O Jogo and Record's reach includes Africa, Brazil, and others countries where there are strong Portuguese communities, such as the USA, Canada, and several Central European nations.

Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s CEO, welcomed the new permanent Media Partners saying that “journalism is an essential vehicle for monitoring and promoting integrity, ultimately making it important for the rule of law“. Macedo de Medeiros also renewed the invitation for all like-minded media organisations to join SIGA as Media Partners.

The agreement to join efforts with SIGA does not involve any financial transactions, ensuring respect for the values of a free press and the independence of each of the Media Partners and SIGA. It also doesn’t include any obligation that would threaten editorial freedom. SIGA will cooperate at all times with the Media Partners upon their request, keep them informed about the Alliance activities and Integrity issues, and promote mutual participation in initiatives regarding Sport Integrity awareness and promotion.