Paulo Schmitt, sports integrity consultant for the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), gave an interview to the iGaming Brazil portal addressing sports integrity and explaining how the work takes place in practice in the national and international Olympic movement.
Sports integrity concept
According to Schmitt, the concept of integrity refers to what is honest and principled, having two distinct faces in sport. “Internally, we are more accustomed to aspects related to governance and compliance in sports organizations.”
“On the external side — which is what is of most concern today — it has a direct relationship with actions, activities and programs to prevent and combat not only the manipulation of competitions, but also doping, prejudice, racism, abuse and harassment in sport. Integrity has a direct relationship with credibility and, as I said, the safety of athletes.”
In addition, the COB has a program called Esporte Seguro, which includes an educational arm, the Instituto Olímpico Brasil (IOB). In the area of preventing and combating the manipulation of competitions, Schmitt informed that the entity has a special division dedicated to the development of various activities, including the appointment of ambassadors.
“The Olympic movement doesn’t have many cases, especially the Brazilian Olympic movement, but we work with the following premise: do the best while expecting the worst. Because it is a scenario that will probably come,” he said.
According to a sports integrity consultant, the process of combating manipulation of competitions involves two moments: identification through monitoring and reporting of complaints. He highlighted the robustness of the International Olympic Committee‘s monitoring platform and the importance of reporting channels.
“When a case arrives and is identified in these two ways, we deal with the issue internally, always communicating with the COB. We forwarded the case with prior analysis to our defense committee and the authorities, because competition manipulation is a crime in Brazil.”
Regulation of sports betting in Brazil
Paulo Schmitt also commented on the regulation of sports betting, emphasizing the division of competences between the Ministries of Finance and Sports and the joint work with the National Congress to establish appropriate standards.
“Our biggest concern, in my area, is exactly with the standards and rules of integrity along with betting regulation. The General Sports Law brought several points about integrity. I think that betting regulation follows a reasonable line to identify and eventually inhibit cases of manipulation.”
Furthermore, he recognized the importance of betting operators in promoting national sport. “We understand that betting operators are important even to sponsor sport, and the COB is developing guidelines for sponsorships to make this relationship even safer between sports organizations and betting operators.”
Paulo Schmitt concluded by highlighting the work between the COB and the CBF so that the new legislation curbs manipulation. “We understand that this area of integrity is very sensitive and we are working with the COB and CBF to ensure that this regulation allows sport and betting to be safer and we can avoid and minimize impacts related to manipulation.”
