Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) Coordinator Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros today delivered a keynote speech at the World Football Forum in Changsha, China, in which he emphasised the pressing need for all stakeholders around the world to work together to safeguard the integrity of sport and secure its long-term future.
Medeiros delivered the address to hundreds of participants from the Chinese and international football and wider sports industry – 75% of whom are Director or Senior Executive level – from over 43 countries. The two-day international conference – held in China for the first time – has attracted 1100 media, journalists and broadcast representatives and focuses on the new geography of football, particularly the growing role of China in world football.
Medeiros addressed the future of world football and the collaborative role SIGA could play with the football family through the implementation of Universal Standards to protect the integrity of the sport. He also addressed key areas, such as good governance, club licensing systems, best practice for youth development and protection, regulatory reform and club ownership, sports betting integrity and a clearing house system for financial transactions.
SIGA is currently delivering pilot projects with four sports organisations – European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), CANOC, ESIC and European Aquatics – which will help inform SIGA on how to best support sports organisations in the future. All of the pilot projects are implementing SIGA’s Universal Standards and SIGA is also delivering bespoke training, education and capacity building projects for each of them to help them make practical and demonstrable progress.
Speaking after his keynote address, SIGA Coordinator Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros said:
“It is an honour to deliver a keynote address to so many distinguished members of the Chinese and global football industry here at the World Football Forum. Football is the most popular and commercially successful sport, but, like all sports, it is facing challenges that threaten its future. We all have a responsibility to work together to safeguard the integrity of sport and that was the focus of my keynote address today.
“At SIGA we have a growing membership of more than 80 international multi-industry supporters from every corner of the globe, all united behind the common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport. We have many supporters from within the football family and we are always looking to collaborate with more stakeholders within sport and enlarge support for SIGA. It is with the work that SIGA is doing and by working side by side, that we can truly safeguard sport’s integrity and ensure its long-term development, commercial success and people’s trust and passion. I am encouraged by China’s ambition for football’s development to be placed at the top of the political agenda. This strategic vision shows a deep understanding of the economic and social power of the beautiful game. With this power comes an indeclinable responsibility: to safeguard sport’s integrity. We at SIGA are ready to assist any sport organisation and country, and look forward to working with China.”
-ENDS-
SIGA Communications Team
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @SIGAlliance
About SIGA
SIGA is an independent and neutral coalition of more than 80 international multi-industry supporters. It is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
SIGA’s members and supporters include MasterCard, Deloitte, the European Professional Football Leagues, Dow Jones, PwC, the World Bank, the International Centre for Sport Security, the Basel Institute on Good Governance, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, the Spanish Football League, the Portuguese Olympic Committee and eSports.