TI blows whistle on graft in sport

• Fight on corruption in industry depends on all key actors, says global watchdog

The sports industry is currently experiencing widespread low levels of transparency and accountability that need to be addressed, Transparency International has said.

TI, the global coalition against corruption, said in a recently released working paper that the close-knit relationship between sporting officials, politicians, business people, sponsors and the media created avenues for corruption to occur.

“A lack of integrity in the sporting industry may endanger sport’s most essential elements and core values: fair play, ethics, mutual respect and trust in the rules of the game,” the paper, titled Corruption and Sport: Building Integrity and Preventing Abuses, said.

The anti-corruption body highlighted seven areas in the industry that were particularly vulnerable to corruption owing to a lack of transparency or integrity. It cited match fixing, organised crime, governance, construction, sponsorship and media.

TI said there was a low level of transparency in many sports associations when it came to publicly sharing information, brought about by weak governance structures, leading to abuses.

“Money distributed by international sports federations is often provided with little or no oversight, creating risks of corruption,” TI added.

Anti-corruption work

TI said anti-corruption work must look at how the structure and operation of sporting bodies were contributing to the current state of affairs.

“The claim for autonomy from State may protect national sports bodies from being politically misused but it also may prevent accountability in their decision-making processes,” TI added.

Kenyan sports bodies have particularly been affected by governance issues, leading to persistent wrangles and mismanagement. Football has been the worst affected.

A decade-long standoff between administrators drawn from different camps over who should manage the game amidst accusations of corruption, mismanagement and vote rigging has persisted to date.

Moving the sport and corruption agenda forward will depend on the ability of sporting authorities, team owners, events rights owners, sponsors and key actors to take decisive actions that promote transparency, accountability and integrity in their decisions and policies.

The paper was produced by Sylvia Schenk, TI senior advisor on Sport and Corruption, in collaboration with Craig Fagan of the Policy and Research Department of the TI secretariat in Berlin.