UNODC participates in an event in Brasilia on sports integrity

Brasilia, 2 October 2019 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) participated in the Sports Integrity Summit, held this Wednesday (2), at the Superior Labour Court (TST, the acronym in Portuguese), in Brasilia. The meeting was organized by the International Governance and Risk Institute (GovRisk) and Genius Sports.

The event brought together organizations such as the Brazilian Olympic Committee, the Sports Arbitration Court, Interpol, the Federal Police, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Economy to discuss the current challenges to integrity in Brazilian sports and issues related to betting and fair play in the country.

UNODC was represented at the event by the coordinator of the Rule of Law Unit, Nivio Nascimento, who participated in the last panel on international legal cooperation and match-fixing police investigations.

Opening of Summit Sports Integrity

The opening table was attended by João Batista Brito Pereira (president of TST), Dominic Le Moignan (director of GovRisk Government Projects), Chris Dougan (representative of Genius Sports) and Alexandre Manoel Angelo da Silva (secretary of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery of the Ministry of Economy).

For Alexandre Manoel there are three modifications that would be positive in this transition of national regulation: "clearer legal framework, implementation of the missing modalities and opening to competition of the lottery market," he said.

According to Dominic Le Moignan "the event is important because we managed to bring together the public and private sectors in the same environment to hold a debate on sports integrity," he said.

The director of Genius Sports, Chris Dougan, in turn, pointed out that the country is about to enter a new phase and needs to be ready to deal with all the issues involved. We need to take care of the sport, because without sport there are no bets".

Five expert panels discussed the importance of integrity in professional sport; the growing relevance of technology in identifying suspicious betting activities; the dangers of illegal betting markets; the impact that legislative and regulatory changes can have and the possible ways to create networks of local, national and global cooperation with legislators, regulators, enforcement agencies, promoters, data providers and betting operators to avoid manipulation of game results.

UNODC Resolution 7/8

For Nivio Nascimento (UNODC's coordinator of the Rule of Law Unit) who participated in the panel on matching-fixing in sports: global perspectives, "the adoption of Resolution 7/8 on Corruption in Sport by the Seventh Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in November 2017, represented a decisive moment and has acted to expand efforts since then," he said.

By emphasizing the significance of this resolution, which had the recognition by over 180 countries that corruption in sport is a significant problem and that they are committing to addressing the problem, Nascimento cited paragraph 10 of this resolution, which specifically mentions the threats posed by illegal betting, manipulation of competitions: "invited states parties, when reviewing their national legislation, to consider the problems and issues of illegal betting,  competition manipulation and other offenses related to sport when associated with corruption...", he added.

Sports Betting and its Regulation in Brazil

In addition to Law 12,299 of 2010, which criminalized fraud and corruption in sports, Law 13,155 of 2015, which extended to events associated with it, Law 13,756, approved by the Brazilian government, in December 2018, approved sports betting, but it is still in the process of regulation. Through this law, Brazilian legislators are committed to creating a regulated market for sports betting in a physical and virtual environment. This recent development offers great opportunities for Brazil.

At the end of the event, organizers and participants suggested the creation of a working group to discuss the new decree on the prevention of corruption in sport, which is being prepared by the Ministry of Economy.

Today's meeting, therefore, represents a great opportunity to foster cooperative ways in Brazil to address these challenges and create a lasting pattern, using a combination of sophisticated technologies, laws and regulations.

International Governance and Risk Institute

The International Governance and Risk Institute (GovRisk) is a British agency specialised in thought leadership, consultation, and high-level training on integrity, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, public procurement, justice reform, and cyber-crime. GovRisk conducts many projects for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a range of other donors and has worked in over 45 countries on strategic projects related to upholding integrity.

Genius Sports Group

Genius Sports is the primary partner of the Summit. Headquartered in London with over 20 locations worldwide, Genius Sports is the global leader in sports data, technology, and integrity services. The organisation provides anti-corruption solutions to some of the world's largest sports governing bodies, including the Premier League, Superliga Argentina, the PGA TOUR and German Football Association. Genius Sports provides consultancy, risk assessments, education workshops, and betting monitoring technology that protects sports

against the threats of match-fixing and betting-related corruption. Their Integrity Services enable sports to understand and manage betting on their competitions while creating an integrity-driven ecosystem that is fair to partners, players and fans.

The agenda can be found here.


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