In recent years, corruption in sports has emerged as a new menace tarnishing the basic spirit of sports and creating new challenges for authorities to address. This type of corruption not only damages the reputation of players and sports bodies but also consequently defames countries where such malpractices occur.
The Doha-based Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center (ROLACC) has signed an agreement on fighting sports corruption with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The agreement was signed by Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ROLACC, Ali bin Fetais Al Marri, who is also UNODC Special Regional Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption with UN Under-Secretary-General, and Executive Director of UNODC Yury Fedotov.
The agreement aims to work on fighting corruption in the sports field in all its shapes and forms as well as highlight the different ways of corruption found in various sports through the cooperation of ROLACC with UNODC.
Dr. Ali bin Fetais Al Marri said the agreement will seek to help world states, organizations and related entities to fight corruption in clubs and associations whether in football or all other sports.
He added that the agreement makes the State of Qatar and the UN partners in the attempt to stop corruption in the sports in all its forms. Al Marri said corruption in sport takes various forms, such as bets, suspicious transactions and other corrupt matters.
Qatar, at various levels, internationally has been playing its active role to fight against corruption. For years, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is being presented to recognize individuals and organizations who have dedicated themselves to combat corruption in some capacity.
The Award is presented annually on International Anti-Corruption Day (9th December). The Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award is meant to promote the importance of tackling corruption around the world and encouraging the efforts of the decisive measures stipulated in the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
Recently, in December last year, former Nigerian anti-corruption official Nuhu Ribadu, and World Bank group’s vice president of integrity Leonard F. McCarthy of South Africa received the prestigious award from Amir H H Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al-Thani and Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at Putrajaya International Convention Centre.
The greater purpose of the Award is to serve as a tool that highlights exemplary and noteworthy actions and good practices on a global scale, to recognize, promote, collect and disseminate anti-corruption models from around the world; to raise awareness, support and solidarity to the fight against corruption; as well as to encourage and inspire similar and new initiatives towards a corruption-free society.
