Spotlight on multi-sports events
The OM Unit PMC continues to support the organisers of major multi-sports events by conducting awareness-raising measures for the athletes and their entourage on site.
At the European Summer Youth Olympic Festival 2025, organised by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and held in Skopje, North Macedonia, from 20 to 26 July, participants were invited to visit a booth devoted to preventing competition manipulation. Through fun activities and interaction with the Believe in Sport Ambassadors, visitors to the booth learnt about the risks, the rules in place and how to report an incident. In addition, a number of NOCs, such as the NOC of Spain, ran awareness-raising events for their young athletes beforehand.
From Europe to Asia: During the World Games 2025, held from 7 to 17 August in Chengdu, China, the OM Unit PMC coordinated closely with the local organisers to support them in running an educational booth throughout the Games. Specifically, the OM Unit PMC team trained a motivated team of volunteers who were present at the booth every day to talk to the almost 5,000 athletes participating in the Games. With the World Games featuring sports that are normally not on the Olympic programme, this initiative was particularly impactful as it targeted athletes unlikely to have been educated about the threat of competition manipulation before. This was also the first edition of the World Games following the adoption of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions (OM Code PMC) by the International World Games Association (IWGA). Learn more.
IWGA Sports Director Sebastian Garvens said after the event: “We extend our sincere thanks to the OM Unit PMC for their support and availability in helping us host, for the first time, an awareness-raising booth on the prevention of competition manipulation at our Games – a great success. The Unit also provided us with relevant intelligence and stood ready to alert us to any suspicious activity during the Games, which, thankfully, did not occur. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to strengthening our cooperation in the future.”
Currently, the OM Unit PMC is also cooperating with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to prepare educational activities for the Asian Youth Games, which will take place from 22 to 31 October in Bahrain. In addition, a joint webinar was organised with OCA on 16 September, which was attended by more than 50 NOC integrity experts and chefs de mission (heads of national delegations). During the Games, a booth will be set up at the exhibition centre, inviting athletes and delegates to pass by and learn about the threat of competition manipulation and the key rules to prevent it.
Multi-sports events usually attract a significant number of high-level athletes and involve many NOCs. Preventive measures therefore have significant reach and also trigger long-lasting change.