President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) Brian Lewis has been elected to the new Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) Council.
Lewis was elected to the 17-member Council during the recently held SIGA General Assembly in Rome. He joins representatives from various stakeholder groups in international sport including the business sector, international organizations, civil society and government.
The General Assembly was held during the third SIGA Sport Integrity Forum where Lewis was a key member of the international panel tackling issues related to corruption in sport.
Lewis who is also President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committee (CANOC) was forthright in his comments during the discussion, stirring debate among the diverse gathering.
“We must govern and lead sport by courage, not convenience; standing up for the greater good, despite the consequences. We will be judged by our actions – not by what we say,” he noted after the discussions.
“We must challenge convention and the status quo; and set a new course for world and Olympic Sport Governance.”
The TTOC President noted that the consequences of poor governance structures and lack of reforms in sport extended beyond the international humiliation and confusion caused by corruption scandals, but also gave rise to other pressing issues such as sexual abuse, doping, match fixing and money laundering.
He called on the SIGA membership to be brutally honest in addressing the racial, gender, social, cultural and class issues which can subtly or overtly foster discrimination, ultimately enabling poor governance. While acknowledging that there is no overnight solution to corruption, Lewis believes the risks can be mitigated through cultivating a culture of inclusivity and diversity.
The SIGA elections come as the coalition seeks to strengthen its operational structures, which included the ratification of Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros as CEO. SIGA Chairman Franco Frattini says that the General Assembly, held on January 31st, marked a critical moment in the organization’s history as they now had all the necessary instruments to move to action and to make a real contribution to ushering in a new era for sport