NOCs in action

NOCs have continued to play their part in preventing competition manipulation, in close collaboration with the OM Unit PMC. 

Here are some recent action examples:

On 8 December 2022, the OM Unit PMC organised a webinar for NOCs from the Oceania/Pacific region, which brought together more than 60 representatives from over 12 NOCs. The participants learnt about the nature of competition manipulation; which structures, cooperation models and activities are required for effective and efficient prevention at national level; and how ONOC and the Pacific Games Council are raising awareness about competition manipulation at their events. The Council of Europe, INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also participated to explain their mandates and related activities.

From Oceania to South Africa

As part of the cooperation between the IOC and INTERPOL, another webinar was held for 50 South African officials on 2 March, aimed at improving cooperation between state authorities, law enforcement bodies and sports organisations at national level.

Looking back on the webinar, the NOC’s integrity expert, Patience Shikwambana, said: “Thanks to this webinar, South African authorities better understood this phenomenon. The NOC shall start proceeding with the adoption of rules and the development of awareness-raising and intelligence activities. We will also start cooperating with the law enforcement and state authorities of the country in order to begin a national coordination of our activities.”

Macolin community onboarding webinar involves NOCs

In early February, the IOC, the Council of Europe and INTERPOL jointly organised a webinar for key stakeholders from the three countries of Iceland, North Macedonia and Turkey, all of which recently signed or ratified the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (Macolin Convention). The objective was to bring together representatives from sports organisations (NOCs), law enforcement and state stakeholders from those countries to address and promote national cooperation in the fight against sports competition manipulation. Canada and Lithuania joined the event as observers.

Liney Rut Halldorsdottir, an integrity expert (SPOC) at the NOC of Iceland, said about her NOC’s participation in the event: “Thanks to this webinar, we had the chance to further strengthen relations with key stakeholders, like state and law enforcement officials and further proceed the discussions for the creation of a national platform, also learning from the other states."

This webinar formed part of the ACT project, which is the technical and operational arm of the Macolin Convention from June 2022 to June 2025 and provides technical assistance to countries wishing to take their national stakeholder cooperation or national platform to the next level, involving of course the NOCs. Read more here.

The OM Unit is working closely with the Council of Europe (CoE) on an ongoing basis. Another recent example of collaboration is the Unit’s presentation at the CoE’s conference “The essential role of prosecutors in protecting the integrity of sport”, held at the end of November, which triggered the launch of “MARS” - a new network of Magistrates/Prosecutors Responsible for Sports to reinforce sport integrity.