Olympic committee backs Macolin Convention

The Olympic committee was part of the International Forum for Sports Integrity (IFSI) and said that reporting mechanisms are essential.

UK.- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was part of the third edition of the International Forum for Sports Integrity (IFSI), where it vouched for more mechanism to report manipulation in sports. The IOC highlighted the Macolin Convention as an obvious example.

IOC President Thomas Bach said that along with stakeholders, they’ve taken many measures since the launch of IFSI in 2015. “The most obvious example is the Council of Europe Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions. It came into effect last month and is already being implemented in a large number of countries. This is an example of the IFSI in action.”

The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (the Macolin Convention) entered into force on September 1. The Macolin Convention is a crucial step in the fight against corruption in sport.

Bach also welcomed the launch of a Sports Investigators Network. “With this network of 200 trained investigators from International and National Federations, National Olympic Committees and sports disciplinary bodies, we can really go to the heart of the problem, which is having access to information as soon as possible and, in some cases, even before the problem occurs. Having this investigators’ network in place will allow us to address issues from the roots,” Bach said.

UN’s word

Ronan O’Laoire, the Global Coordinator for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Programme for Safeguarding Sport from Corruption and Crime said that developing effective reporting mechanisms in sports is important. “It is crucial for government agencies and sports organisations to identify and apprehend those responsible for wrongdoing in sport, including competition manipulation. Having effective reporting mechanisms in place to facilitate this is essential and we believe that the Guide on Reporting Mechanisms in Sport, developed through our partnership with the IOC, sets out a highly effective basis to do just that,” he said.