- Event organised by CSCF Foundation for Sports Integrity in collaboration with Fair Play Code, an initiative of the Austrian Ministry of Sport and supported by Federal Criminal Police Office of Austria
- FIFPRO Legal Director Roy Vermeer was one of the speakers at the event in Vienna, Austria
- Multi-stakeholder conference was the first of its kind in Austria, which helped provide training to more than 45 police officials
The latest IntegriSport 3.0 Awareness Raising Practical Session (ARPS) took place in Austria, Vienna on 4-5 December 2023 where law enforcement and judiciary benefited from practical solutions on tackling sport manipulation.
The two-day symposium was organised by the CSCF Foundation for Sports Integrity in collaboration with the Austrian Ministry of Sport and supported by the Federal Criminal Police Office of Austria.
The multi-stakeholder training conference was the first of its kind in Austria and assisted more than 45 police officials from across the country and from multiple departments of Austrian Federal Police, prosecution offices and judicial officers, to counter crimes in sports.
It explored the diverse challenges associated with sport manipulation and the need to foster collaboration at both national and international level to help protect athletes against match-fixing.
FIFPRO Legal Director Roy Vermeer was one of the speakers at the event, emphasising the various ways in which match-fixing affects players.
Vermeer highlighted how players can be protected from sport manipulation and how they can report match-fixing approaches to authorities securely and anonymously, such as using the Red Button app.
What is the Red Button app?
He said: "Players want a clean sport and they should be able to perform in their place of work in a safe environment where they can feel secure to report any match-fixing approach.
"The Red Button app enables players to report match-fixing approaches to authorities, such as police and government anti-corruption units, safely and anonymously. That is why a unified approach is needed to tackle sport manipulation."
CSCF Foundation for Sport Integrity Director Norbert Rubicsek stressed the importance of having that unified approach to address what is a global issue.
He said: "To combat sports manipulation and crime in sports, it requires complex actions and cooperation from all the involved stakeholders. Sports need support to counteract fixers infiltrating it, and this support should come from law enforcement, judiciaries, as well as other stakeholders in the domain.
"This is one of the main objectives of the IntegriSport 3.0 project: understanding and supporting each other."
What is IntegriSport 3.0?
IntegriSport 3.0 is a project established by the CSCF Foundation for Sports Integrity to provide theoretical and practical support for law enforcement and judiciaries in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Romania, and Spain, co-financed by the European Union, on fighting sport manipulation.
The event in Austria marked the third under the present project – following on from the ARPS in Madrid, Spain and Athens, Greece – and the 16th edition under the successful IntegriSport program.
