A decade of action: the IOC-INTERPOL Integrity in Sport initiative
The fight against competition manipulation reached a major milestone this year, as the IOC and INTERPOL celebrated 10 years of their Integrity in Sport partnership with a series of regional workshops aimed at strengthening national and international cooperation.
As part of the Global Capacity-Building and Training Programme, Panama hosted a regional training session on 1 and 2 October that brought together representatives from National Olympic Committees, law enforcement bodies and public authorities from seven countries: the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago. The focus was clear: reinforcing joint readiness to detect, prevent and respond to threats to sports integrity.
Collaboration enabling readiness
Opening the workshop, IOC Member and President and CEO of the NOC of Panama Damaris Young emphasised the importance of building networks rather than isolated responses. “It was great to host this IOC-INTERPOL workshop here in Panama,” she said. “The workshop provided the participants with key knowledge on the topic, and we saw the first steps of national cooperation already happening here as part of the workshop.”
Young expanded on the significance of seeing collaboration in action rather than in theory: “What truly stood out over these two days was the willingness of all parties to move from discussion to implementation. The exchanges were constructive, and the commitment was visible – authorities and sports bodies sitting together, identifying risks, sharing tools and creating the foundations for a coordinated national response. This is exactly what we need if we are to protect athletes, competitions and the public’s trust in sport.”
Participants worked through case scenarios and drafted country-level cooperation approaches, identifying how information-sharing mechanisms, rapid response structures and clear responsibilities can prevent manipulation before it reaches competition level.
From Panama to the United Arab Emirates
The regional momentum continued on 12 November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where a second IOC-INTERPOL workshop brought together around 50 participants from six countries: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE. The workshop ran alongside INTERPOL’s Match-Fixing Taskforce (IMFTF) annual meeting, building connections between the participants and the global task force of law enforcement officials dedicated to tackling match-fixing.
Francisco Portugal of INTERPOL highlighted the anniversary, saying: “The partnership between IOC and INTERPOL recently completed 10 years of existence. The workshop in the UAE for countries from the region successfully marked the end of a very active year. Discussions were once again interactive, and we saw great interest from participants from sports and law enforcement authorities to further cooperate.”
A new period in the IOC-INTERPOL partnership (2026-2029) is about to begin with key activities across the globe. In addition to the regional capacity-building activities, individual calls with NOCs and national police focal point meetings are being organised, to continue the cooperation and trust-based relationship between these important stakeholders.