FIFA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) together launched a campaign to encourage football to speak out against match-fixing. The two parties signed an agreement in an attempt to tackle the problem together.
The partnership was launched last Wednesday, December 9, coinciding with International Anti-Corruption Day. The initiative also aims to raise awareness of the top reporting entity’s confidential reporting platforms.
FIFA President praises the relevance of actions with UNODC
The action aims to encourage players, coaches, officials and others within the sport to use as confidential platforms to report suspicions related to the combination of results.
“This new joint campaign between FIFA and UNODC, just a few weeks after the signing of our agreement, is a strong message about our absolute commitment and determination to eliminate match-fixing and corruption in football,” said the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino.
Infantino also stated that “in these times marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we work together with partners, such as UNODC, to ensure that players, coaches and managers have the confidence to speak out against match-fixing, as well as any other integrity problems ”.
Confidential reports can be sent via the FIFA website, the entity’s health application or a dedicated email service. A campaign was supported by several former professional football players, including Ivan Córdoba, Sun Wen, Wael Gomaa and Clementine Touré.
“Sports and sporting events are vital to our well-being and have a crucial role in helping our societies and economies to recover from the pandemic,” said UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly.
Waly concluded: “therefore, we must work together to ensure that the sport recovers with integrity”.
