Round table 2 - Synthesis

Moderator : Pim Verschuuren, Professor in Sport management at the University of Rennes II 

Speakers:

• Pierre-Yves Portafaix, OCOG Paris 2024. 

• Vasilis Minoudis & Athanasios Strigas, Greek national platform against the manipulation of sports competitions

• Amandine Carton, French national platform against the manipulation of sports competition

• Evangelos Alexandrakis, International Olympic Committee

• Prof. Jacek Potulski, University of Gdansk.

The session started with an introduction by Pim Verschuuren of the findings from the first round of consultation in each MotivAction country partner. Overall, despite the sharp differences between countries and the varying conditions depending on the type of stakeholder, the sport discipline, the level of competition or the personal profile of respondents, the consultation underlined the lack of awareness and the lack of trust towards national reporting mechanisms. A general lack of speaking culture and reluctance to use existing mechanisms was clearly identified by the research team.  Overall, national platforms confirm the lack of substantial reports, and insist on the difficulty to start and conclude proceedings. 

In order to raise ideas and experiences on how to facilitate reporting, the roundtable consisted in an open discussion, which turned around 3 recommendations. 

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1. Intensify the cooperation at national and international level. 

Preventing, detecting and sanctioning sport manipulation require collaboration from many public and private authorities as well as referees, athletes, coaches, and others. One goal of unified efforts is to exchange information that can be useful in building evidence. Vassilis Minoudis in particular testified on the lack of legal evidence to pursue the proceedings. In the case of Greece, Athanasios Strigas praised the added value of the national platform and took the example of a partnership with the National Olympic Academy to build awareness-raising and education tools. 

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2. Build a speaking culture

Several speakers recommended to promote ethical behaviour and the education around reporting. One step is to articulate a clear communication on the reporting procedures and the recipient profile. Vassilis Minoudis and Athanasios Strigas explained that the communication strategy should demonstrate that the system is working, that reports are dealt with. Any stakeholder should identify reliable contacts to report concerns. 

Communication should also advise on how to report and the precautions to take. Pierre-Yves Portafaix indicated that interacting quizzes can be useful to attract attention. Amandine Carton took the example of Belgian schools where briefcases have been distributed to help teachers in conducting education sessions around Olympic values.

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3. Adapt the reporting mechanisms and the protection regimes

Because speaking up is a difficult step to take, that it involves potential high risks, reporting mechanisms should be accompanied by protection regimes. If needed it can be physical protection, under the regime of protected witnesses as Amandine Carton mentioned for legal cases. But for many cases, especially the disciplinary ones, protection also means the possibility to report anonymously. Jacek Potulski reminded of the need to keep procedures confidential, and propose amnesty schemes. Here, Amandine Carton took the example of the substantial assistance clause in doping procedures, in which doped athletes can see a reduction in their sanction if they provide assistance to investigators. The independence of the reporting lines is also an important step, as in the case of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee. In the meantime, Evangelos Alexandrakis notified that the IOC does not oblige members of the Olympic movement to have an anonymous line because it should remain possible for stakeholders to prove that a report has been made, which is not always possible through anonymous mechanisms.