The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) is bringing together leading experts for the SIGA FITS FORUM, an event dedicated to safeguarding financial integrity and transparency in sports.
The forum on June 13 in New York City is organised by SIGA America and hosted by international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. It will feature discussions on key topics such as main threats and pressing reforms in financial integrity and transparency in sports, safeguarding sports from corruption, money laundering, criminal infiltration and championing integrity in sports.
SIGA Global chief executive officer Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros emphasised the importance of this event.
“Nine years after the devastating FIFAGate, it’s time to confront the reality and ask ourselves: what progress has been made since then? What have we learned from that case?” asked de Medeiros, referring to a US$200 million bribery scandal that rocked Fifa in 2015 and culminated in the downfall of Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
“Which reforms have taken root, which remain on the drawing board or are forgotten? Is football and the broader sports industry better governed, more transparent and accountable today? Are governments, sports organisations, and law enforcement duly equipped to respond to the widespread emergence of new, financially sophisticated and complex global threats?
“And what about the sponsors, broadcasters and other commercial entities? How many prioritise sports integrity before putting ink on paper, opening their wallets, and investing their reputation?
He said the forum, a gathering of senior representatives from governments, international organisations, law enforcement, financial institutions, sports bodies, and the broader industry, would find answers and solutions to “these increasingly difficult challenges and pave the way for much-needed reforms”.
Among the experts are deputy chief general crimes of the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, Kaitlin Farrell, Italian Magistrate Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, Fifa chief legal and compliance officer Emilio Garcia Silvero, and Uefa’s financial sustainability and research director Andrea Traverso.
Participants can engage with and learn from the leading voices in the field of financial integrity in sports. Those interested in attending the forum can express their interest by emailing info@siga-sport.com by June 10.
Kuala Lumpur-based Twentytwo13 is SIGA’s sole official media partner from Southeast Asia.
