KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – INTERPOL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have provided training to enhance Malaysia’s efforts in investigating and sanctioning competition manipulation in sports.
The training brought together more than 130 representatives from Malaysian law enforcement, government, betting entities and sports organizations, as well as representatives from Indonesia.
The two-day event (16 and 17 October) was hosted in close cooperation with the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission, Olympic Council of Malaysia, and the Badminton World Federation. It was supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Sportradar.
Opening the workshop, RMP Senior Assistant Commissioner Dato' Zaini Bin Jass said: "Establishing cooperation between law enforcement agencies and sports governing organizations is vital in creating a good platform to eradicate corruption, as well as a landmark to enhance the image and integrity of sports, so that issues such as corruption, doping and match-fixing do not compromise athletes."
Poul-Erik Høyer, President, Badminton World Federation, said: “Athletes are at the centre of our work and every athlete has the right to compete in clean and fair sport. Our athletes deserve the best possible environment to compete and train in, and it’s our responsibility together with our membership to deliver that”.
INTERPOL’s Director for Organized and Emerging Crime, Paul Stanfield, said: “It is important that athletes recognize attempts to corrupt them, as well as how to handle and report these. The INTERPOL Match-Fixing Task Force is working in particular to strengthen links among members in the Asia-Pacific region and also with key international sports bodies such as the Badminton World Federation.”
Following the multi-stakeholder workshop, an investigators training took place for sports governing bodies and law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating allegations, suspicions or reports related to the manipulation of a sports competition and other breaches of sports integrity.
The course included practical scenario-based exercises designed to enhance relevant skills and assist in the transfer of learning to the work environment. It was based on the INTERPOL-IOC Handbook on Conducting Fact-Finding Inquiries into Breaches of Sports Integrity.
Pâquerette Girard-Zappelli, IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of Integration said: “Building the capacity of nations to work together internally and with regional and international stakeholders has been reaffirmed in the recent trainings in Malaysia. These trainings will hopefully assist both Malaysia and Indonesia in addressing the very real threat of competition manipulation to the integrity of sport in the region.”
INTERPOL and the IOC recently expanded their joint global capacity-building and training programme until 2021 to protect the integrity of sports.
