FIFA joins forces with UN for new integrity campaign
Football legends support “Recover with Integrity” campaign to increase reporting of match-fixing through player engagement
Global football governing body FIFA has teamed up with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to launch a new campaign targeting match-fixing in football.
Known as “Recover with Integrity”, the joint campaign launched on International Anti-Corruption Day aims to encourage players, coaches and officials to “recognise, resist and report” attempts to fix football matches.
Affected individuals can report match-fixing attempts anonymously online via the FIFA website, or via the FIFA Integrity App.
The joint campaign features messages from a range of FIFA Legends, including Sun Wen, Iván Córdoba, Luke Wilkshire, Wael Gomaa, Stipe Pletikosa, Clémentine Touré and Bibiana Steinhaus.
In addition to the campaign, the UNODC and FIFA have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) to share data on suspicious betting and match-fixing by criminal groups.
“This new joint campaign between FIFA and UNODC, just a few weeks after the signing of our Memorandum of Understanding, is a strong message about our absolute commitment and determination to eliminating match-fixing and corruption in football,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.
“In these unprecedented times marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is essential that we work together with partners such as the UNODC to ensure that players, coaches and officials have the confidence to speak out against match-fixing, as well as any other integrity issues,” Infantino added.
The problem of international match-fixing has come into sharp focus over the last year, with many gambling regulators making membership of sports betting integrity-led bodies a condition of licensing.
Earlier this month, the Swedish government appointed a special investigator to analyse current anti-match-fixing efforts with a view to strengthening existing controls and cooperation with external sporting associations.