Press release
In a webinar organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from all continents have been more alerted to the threat of competitive manipulation and trained on how best to train their athletes and officials on this important issue.
With several major multi-sport events, Olympic qualifiers, and the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games and Paris 2024 Olympic Games looming on the horizon, the meeting provided a timely opportunity to share.smart gadgets and informative material and allowing nearly 70 NOCs to exchange best practices and learn from each other.
A number of NOCs from different continents and of all sizes presented their activities and explained how they are working with national stakeholders to raise awareness of the risks associated with competitive manipulation among their athletes and members of the environment, particularly in the context of the Continental Games and the Olympic Games. Games. Several NOCs are willing to work with them. Believe in Sports Ambassadorshas proven to be quite effective for this purpose.
Believe in Sports Ambassadors are active or retired athletes, coaches or referees who work directly with the relevant NOC and/or the International Sports Federation (IF) in their efforts to prevent competitive manipulation.
Sharing best practice
For example, the Slovenian NOC included Believe in Sports Ambassador Andrej Miklavc (a retired alpine skier) in all awareness raising activities for its delegation ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. NOC and Andrej related rules and Code of Conductdistributed awareness material and reporting mechanism.
Along with several other Sports Ambassadors, Andrey attended the IOC webinar this week, sharing his knowledge with the 150 participating NOC representatives.
Optimizing national cooperation
Other NOCs presented how they are working with national stakeholders, including public authorities and national platforms, to increase the reach and impact of educational activities to prevent competition manipulation. For example, some have developed concepts for incorporating a particular education into the school curriculum.
The Australian NOC works closely with Sports Integrity Australia, the national sports integrity organization, which offers innovative approaches for young athletes that have proven to be effective at the national level, including a VR game, and provides different scenarios for them to participate in. competition manipulation The Australian NOC also has a special mandatory e-learning course prior to certain events.
Meanwhile, the NOCs of Portugal, Sri Lanka and several other countries have systematically developed capacities and skills across their National Federations (NFs) over the past few years.
Participants also learned about communication tactics and intelligence processes. The webinar was highly interactive and many attendees were particularly interested in how to systematically reach out to the sports community in their country. IOC experts explained how to efficiently use the channels and opportunities available before and during major events such as social media, team preparation meetings, uniform distribution days and training booths. NOCs were advised to blend digital with face-to-face education.
Evangelos Alexandrakis, NOC Liaison Manager of the Olympic Movement Unit (OM Unit PMC) on the Prevention of Competition Manipulation, said:Our goal is to empower all NOCs to their athletes and other members of their delegation to deliver the right messages prior to major events and on an ongoing basis. In fact, the Olympic Act on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions, which is part of the Olympic Charter, obliges sports organizations to carry out awareness-raising activities. Our webinar aimed to support NOCs in this important task. It was great to see how eager they are to learn from each other and progress.”
background information
The NOC webinar formed part of the IOC’s efforts to engage all key Olympic Movement stakeholders in protecting. integrity sports competitions. initiatives prevent competitive manipulation Established in 2017, the dedicated OM Unit is led by PMC. Last month, the IOC $10 million fund Per Olympic to continue to support the successful work of this Unit.
Friday, 28 April 2023