Delegates at Securing Sport 2013 will meet in Doha next month to discuss integrity in sport, specifically addressing issues with international betting and the actions that sports federations should take in order to control the situation.
More than 400 international experts and stakeholders will meet at the Katara Cultural Village in the Qatari capital on March 18 and 19 to discuss and share knowledge under the topic of "Advancing the security and integrity of sport to safeguard the future".
Match-fixing in football reared its ugly head this month following a 19-month investigation by Europol, which revealed that 680 games were deemed as "suspicious", including international matches and a UEFA Champions League game between Liverpool and Debrecen at Anfield in 2009, in which the Hungarian team's goalkeeper was allegedly paid to concede more than two goals during the match – something which failed to materialise as Liverpool won 1-0.
Europol also announced that close to $11 million (£7.25 million/€8.3 million) in profits and nearly $3 million (£2 million/€2.3 million) in bribes were discovered during the investigation, which uncovered "match-fixing activity on a scale we have not seen before," according to chief Rob Wainwright.
Chris Eaton, director of sport integrity at the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS), will lead the panel session entitled "The Internationalisation of Betting – Keeping Ahead of the Curve"
"As we have seen with the information released by Europol and the following discussions all over the world, sport is under unprecedented attack from criminals and opportunists who conspire to manipulate the results of competitions around the world," said Eaton.
Other members of the panel include Professor Emre Alkin, general secretary of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF); Paul Scotney, director and integrity consultant at Sports Integrity Services; and Friedrich Stickler, President of the European Lotteries Association.
Sessions discussing "The Internationalisation of Betting" and "Elite Sport at a Cost: Is Sport Protecting its Elite at the Expense of its Integrity?" will also take place with the aim of educating federations and sharing knowledge to ensure that the right steps are being taken toward ensuring integrity in sport.
A workshop entitled "Targeting Asian Betting Markets" will also take place, which will allow delegates to discuss how sport can encourage the development of programmes and governance to address the issue.
"Sporting integrity has never been as important or crucial," said Helmut Spahn, executive director of the ICSS.
"Chris Eaton's panel on international betting is an un-missable session at Securing Sport 2013.
"I look forward to welcoming organisations from around the world, including international governing bodies, mega-event experts and world-class international athletes, for what I am sure will be an important platform for sharing information and exploring best practice in the field of sport, safety, security and integrity."
Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar 2022, and Lord Stevens, chairman of the ICSS Advisory Board will appear at the conference, as well as former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Italian FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League winning football legend Alessandro Del Piero among others.
By James Crook
Source: www.insidethegames.biz