Challenges in addressing Integrity in Sport Today
The response to the recent announcement of 34 persons having been arrested as part of an extensive investigation into illegal gambling in the USA, particularly in the world renowned NBA, serves to highlight just how simplistic many sports enthusiast are about the so-called ‘wide and wonderful world of sport’.
Included in the list of those arrested are, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones.
Many commentators, sport journalists and sport leaders all hastened to express their horror at the announcement, leaving the average citizen pondering the extent to which the behaviour being referenced was something entirely new.
The awe expressed almost everywhere, especially in the international media, reflects an agreement, for the most part, that the betting in which the arrested individuals were engaged constitutes a significant breach of sport integrity and deserves the harshest of condemnations, to say nothing of the need for urgent legal action to be taken against the perpetrators, if found guilty.
The unfortunate truth is that sport integrity has been open to question almost as long as the history of sport itself.
Despite the efforts of many international organisations, high-ranking sport leaders and well-meaning athletes and technical officials, integrity in sport remains a major problem.
It is against this backdrop that it seems appropriate to congratulate the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) for its attempt, this year, to call on the international community to observe not just one day or even one week, but an entire month of Sport Integrity. In this regard, for those organisations and individuals that have not yet come on board with the initiative, this may be an ideal opportunity to engage in a re-think and join the campaign.
Integrity
Like so many concepts, there is no single acceptable universal definition of the concept of integrity. David C. Bauman (Division of Business- Regis College Regis University), articulated, ‘The word’s rich history points to an ethical meaning while contemporary disputes have divided the word into a non-moral term meaning wholeness and a moral term meaning moral trustworthiness. The business and leadership literature has been less dogmatic about the meaning of integrity but appears to have settled on the non-moral definition of fully integrated, whole, or consistently acting on one’s statements’.
Generally, However, integrity emphasises credibility and trust.
In the world of sport, integrity speaks to a level playing field in all aspects from ownership through to management, sponsors, athletes, technical officials and fans. Literally, all stakeholders are expected to be operating fairly, allow for the results to be accepted with confidence.
UNESCO’s revised Guidelines on Sport Integrity (April 2025) states,
‘Sport integrity is a multi-faceted issue, and the very concept is intrinsically related to the question of ethics in sport. But for all its complexity, integrity is an indispensable condition of play for almost every athlete. Without integrity, sport becomes unsustainable, at the price of the enormous potential it offers for self-fulfilment and social cohesion’.
Let’s be very clear, integrity is a valued feature of life, in societies all around the world. It is in no way restricted to sport.
Part of the process of socialisation in one’s life is an appreciation for the value of integrity to one’s being. Growing up, we were all taught that we need to be honest, respectful of others and responsible, in all our dealings. This is what enables others with whom we interact to have confidence in us and trust that what we say and do are reflections of who we are. This allows us to feel that we can be trusted. In other words, we must be people of integrity.
It is unfortunate that over time we have come to associate integrity more with leaders and leadership than with the people with whom we interact in one’s everyday life. Perhaps that is one of the reasons integrity is fast becoming a scarce phenomenon.
Global sport integrity realities
Sport is about human interaction, a social institution, and has always been presented as involving positive social values. But even as it has been marketed as such, there has always been evidence of severe breaches of the very integrity these organisations vow to uphold and encourage their members to integrate in their respective structures.
Adhering to the principles of integrity has, however, always proven to be quite challenging.
In the Ancient Olympics there were distinct preferences such that the lower classes and women were discriminated against and there are suggestions that some athletes received monetary compensation.
When the modern Olympics were introduced in 1896, women were not allowed to participate and when they were afforded the opportunity decades later, pseudo-scientific evidence, debunked in mainstream society, still prevailed enough to deny some sporting events from being on the competition programme.
Like the International Olympic Committee (IOC), several international sports federations journeyed through the same path of turning a blind eye to the discriminatory practices that characterised their respective sports. It is not surprising that racism, a thorn in the arsenal of those who wielded power in societies across the globe, found its way in sport as in life, more generally. For some, it was deemed appropriate and acceptable to many who controlled the levers of power in sport. In their own interests, they dictated that the same approach and mandate be applied globally, in order for others to gain membership of their respective international fraternities.
Decades later, we have the IOC and some international federations being forced to grudgingly back track on earlier decisions made in their respective sporting events. One notable example is that of Jim Thorpe, the first American Indian to win Olympic gold medals (Pentathlon and Decathlon) at the Olympic Games. This was in Stockholm, 1912. He was stripped of his medals for having played baseball for pay in 1913. Decades later the medals were returned.
Another example is the reversal of the disgusting treatment of Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett at the Summer Olympics of 1972, thanks in no small measure to Trinidad and Tobago’s Brian Lewis, then President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC). The jury is still out on the treatment by the USA of Tommie Smith and John Carlos and Australia in respect of the third placed 200m medallist, Peter Norman.
The Salt City Scandal revealed the soft underbelly of the IOC and the United States Olympic Committee (now US Olympic and Paralympic Committee) as they found themselves being the objects of international derision for the corruption that was exposed.
Today, the array of scandals in sport in different parts of the world seem to suggest that there is no one ‘to guard the guards’.
The world of sport received something of a reprieve in respect of integrity in sport when Nelson Mandela, after more than two and a half decades in prison for his righteous stance against Apartheid in Sout Africa, as the country’s new President, over their hosting of the Rugby World Cup, win it and proclaim, ‘Sport has the power to change the world’.
Unfortunately, while Mandela’s utterances continue to fill pages and policies of international sporting organisations, little has been done to break the back of the incessant breaches of integrity even as they all seek more adherents, including sponsorship.
Several Executive members of football’s international governing body, FIFA, were arrested in a high-profile anti-corruption operation. Their breaches of integrity remain amongst the most referenced in forums on sport ethics and governance. Rather interestingly, there was no major loss of sponsorship accessible to the organisation. This did not appear to come as a surprise to anyone in sport.
There is current incredible evidence of players being harassed with banana peel being thrown on to the field during games, while patrons serve up despicable grunts aimed at black footballers.
Duffey’s, “It’s No Secret, it’s Racism” (2018), states in part,
‘In the world of high level sports, it is everywhere you look. When you watch sports on television it is obvious. It is on the sideline and in the announcer’s voice. There are many objective examples that support what you are seeing and hearing, but are these examples just a coincidence? It is the reason Larry Bird is known for his cunning and witty characteristics on the basketball court, and the same reason Michael Vick became known as a great quarterback for his foot speed rather than ability to read the defence. The “it” I am referring to is the social construct that depicts black athletes as physical specimens with natural ability and white athletes as witty and hardworking. The success of black athletes is often undermined by the notion that much of their ability comes naturally to them, and this ability allows them to overcome their lack of IQ within their given sport. White athletes are praised for having great leadership ability and being extremely hardworking’.
In a similar vein, the story of the years of Lance Armstrong’s apparent commitment to cheating to be the declared best road cyclist in the sport’s history may have made it to all courses on the state of integrity in sport history but did little else. Instead, much praise has been accorded him for having come forward with his confession.
In the field of cricket, there is no shortage of cases of ball tampering by some players so that their respective teams could gain a competitive edge over their opponents. In the beginning there were muted responses and no sanctions. It was only when the behaviour was caught on camera that penalties were imposed
The challenge of change
SIGA’s Sport Integrity month, comes merely a few weeks after the IOC organised yet another Summit on Integrity in Sport. How much collaboration is actually taking place in the international sport fraternity? This is an important question.
The challenges posed to integrity in sport has never been greater.
In a recent discussion one author highlighted the fact that with the proliferation of sports betting today, ‘the casino is now in everyone’s pocket’ and the opportunities to bet on something, anything, is now almost infinite.
While the major international sporting bodies spent their time and effort on illegal betting, they misread the innovation being developed to take legal betting to the next frontier. The response now being considered across the international community is already too late. The horse has bolted from the stable and wreaking havoc on all age groups everywhere.
Now, more than ever, there is need for global collaboration to address the challenges to integrity in sport.
In November 2017, then SIGA Chairman Franco Frattini, declared,
‘SIGA is ready and willing to work with the IOC to provide a better future for sport’.
He stated,
‘It is clear that there has never been a stronger need for reform. Each day, the public’s confidence in the governance of sport is eroded further by the seemingly endless list of corruption stories that dominate news headlines around the world. This negativity taints the otherwise excellent day-to-day work of so many national international sports organisations and the vast majority of people who work in sport…I believe that, with a more strategic and cohesive effort, SIGA can help the world’s top sporting organisations create a new era in sport, where individuals are not given the opportunity to tarnish its collective reputation’.
Last week, speaking at the launch of the Sport Integrity month, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s CEO, insisted, ‘We face a unique and decisive challenge: one that tests us and demands courage, determination, reformist spirit, and strategic sense of opportunity…Confederations, federations, clubs, leagues, governments, sponsors, athletes, coaches, and fans. Everyone has a responsibility to assume and a role to play.
‘Sport does not need more promises. What it needs is courage, reform, and concrete, tangible results. The time to act is now, and integrity is our starting point’.
The IOC’s new President, Kirsty Coventry, essentially said the same thing in opening the recent Summit.
In December 2018, ‘UNESCO and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) signed an agreement to build up “A Business Case for Sport Integrity”. This project is a component of the implementation of the Kazan Action Plan, approved by the world sport Ministers’ Conference (MINEPS VI) in 2017.
‘The primary purpose of the project is to foster a meaningful increase of government investment in the promotion and protection of sport integrity. To reach this goal, the project is centred on two primary objectives. Firstly, gather empirical evidence and establish a “business case”, demonstrating the political, economic and social benefits of protecting the integrity of sport and, notably, the return on investments in this area. Secondly, to raise the awareness of government decision-makers and encourage them to invest in the protection of sport integrity’
All of us who claim a profound commitment to sport as development and sport for development and the creation of a better world through sport, must show that commitment by joining forces.
No single organisation has a monopoly on leading the fight to sustain integrity in sport. We all must have a stake in this fight, if sport is to remain an important feature of the human condition.
Time is upon us!
Let the process of a globally unified approach to sustaining integrity in sport be our common objective!
