SIGA
SIGA and Media Partners set out basis of future cooperation
The Sport Integrity Global Alliance and their Media Partners set out the current challenges facing integrity in sport and the basis of their cooperation.
Earlier this year, as part of a wider collaboration, Spanish daily AS joined the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) as a permanent Media Partner. 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.
AS director, Vicente Jimenez, spoke at the time about his desire “to support good practices in the world of sport” and affirmed that “the media can play an important role in defending good governance and responsibility“. He also saw SIGA as “a reference regarding those standards” and stressed the importance of this venture as “without Integrity there is no sport.”
SIGA Media Partners joint statement
On 26 October 2021 SIGA and their Global Media Partners got together to address the current challenges facing the integrity of sport and to establish the basis of their future cooperation. After the meeting they released a joint statement, which is set out here in its entirety.
SIGA and the SIGA Media Partners:
1. Recognise the significant role that Sport, if governed and operated under the highest integrity standards and free from corruption and other threats, can play in today’s society and global economy.
2. Agree to unite and cooperate to usher Sport and the wider Sport-related industry into a new era of enhanced governance, integrity, transparency, and public accountability.
3. Assert the necessity to positively impact Sports Integrity and, by extension, foster long overdue integrity reforms across Sport and the wider sporting industry and drive meaningful cultural change to enhance all aspects and outputs of Sport, in order to preserve its positive values and safeguard its invaluable social, educational and cultural role and impact in global economy.
4. Encourage the Sport Movement, as well as Governments, international organisations, global sports business community and civil society, to assume their own responsibilities, and adopt and implement the SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity and the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS).
5. Congratulate the G20 for the important strides being made in the field of Sport Integrity, in particular the approval of the High-Level Principles Tackling Corruption in Sport, taking account of SIGA’s contributions to this historical document.
6. Recognise that the G20 action represents an encouraging expression of global leadership and removes any ambiguity around the significant contribution of Sport to the global agenda and urge the G20 Members to accelerate the necessary reforms and promote the cross-industry international collaboration of all relevant stakeholders.
7. Commit to play a meaningful role in this evolution to facilitate Integrity and governance reform. This will be accomplished by placing appropriate pressure on international authorities and sport governing bodies to assume leadership by raising awareness and holding them, and their actions, to account.
8. Encourage all international organisations and nations to join SIGA and adopt a strong, public stance for Integrity and Transparency and against corruption in Sport.
To help implement the above mentioned aims and objectives, SIGA and the SIGA Media Partners itemised below, will develop an action-orientated network. This network will unite behind common Sport Integrity GOALS and facilitate meaningful change in, and through, Sport through the promotion and implementation of the SIGA Universal Standards on Sports Integrity and Independent Rating and Verification of Sports Governance via SIRVS, the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System.
