During the webinar which was organised by the National Transparency Authority (NTA) in cooperation with the General Secretariat for Sport, more than 130 members of sports federations had the opportunity to be informed about the "Chilon" evaluation system, its implementation in sports federations and the methodology of the NTA regarding the management of complaints and the conduct of audits in sports bodies.
The aim of the "Chilon" is to design and implement an evaluation system for sports federations, which is also linked to their funding. This evaluation will be based on specific criteria and data, and the programme is part of the central priority of the political leadership of the General Secretariat for Sport to objectively evaluate the Federations and optimise the procedures of their annual regular subsidies.
The webinar was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports, Mr. Lefteris Avgenakis, who underlined the very productive cooperation that has been developed between the General Secretariat of Sport and the National Transparency Authority to face long-standing problems in sport, highlighted the contribution of the Governor of the NTA, Mr. Angelos Binis, and stressed the importance of the "Chilon" for the evaluation of Federations: "The meritocracy, credibility and transparency applied with the "Chilon" evaluation system has been recognised and praised by all sports Federations. Of course, we must not forget that this system is dynamic. In each Federation, specific issues can always arise that create "gaps" in the evaluation process or in the implementation of the system. However, we at the Ministry of Sport are always present and ready to accept and work on any suggestion and together we can improve the evaluation process.
The National Transparency Authority can also contribute to this. In fact, a dynamic step has been taken with the recent creation of our joint working group for the development of the Strategic Plan for Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption. A group that will work intensively on the pillar of good governance, which also concerns the “Chilon” evaluation system.
I am confident that through this highly beneficial cooperation, innovative practices will be implemented that will further strengthen the sports structure and ensure conditions of greater security and integrity in the field of sports. After all, creating conditions of order and transparency is a team game. And in this effort, we need all the healthy forces. No one is left out!”.
The General Secretary of Sports, Mr. George Mavrotas, noted that "The evaluation program for sports federations 'Chilon' is based on objective and measurable criteria. “Chilon” identifies the points on which each federation should focus in order to improve its overall performance, while the results are used in the distribution of subsidies. The integration of the 'Chilon' program with the registry of sports organisations being set up at the General Secretariat of Sport will enrich the evaluation, particularly in terms of the completeness and reliability of the data".
During his statement, the Governor of the NTA, Mr. Angelos Binis, referred to the "Chilon" system, noting that "it is closely linked to the recent legislation of the internal audit system Law 4795/2021, as it is a valuable tool for each institution and each Head to set the right objectives, to implement them, to evaluate the results and, finally, to redesign their actions and programmes". Mr Binis also stressed that "the NTΑ has carried out a series of audits to identify opportunities to improve processes, strengthen integrity mechanisms and put in place the safe nets that will allow each institution to achieve its objectives".
The Head of the Competitive Sports Directorate of the General Secretariat of Sport, Mr. Vassilis Kakkos, during the presentation entitled "Register of sports organisations - Register of sports clubs - connection with the “Chilon” system", referred to quantitative data (e.g. number of athletes) related to the "sports environment". Then he presented the results of audits from the Register of sports clubs in 2020, the parameters of the Register of sports organisations related to the sports aspect of sports Federations, as well as the common parameters of the Register of sports organisation with the "Chilon" programme.
Mrs. Irini Klοukiniotou, Head of the General Directorate of Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, spoke about the Federations’ financial management and the process of approval of their budgets by the Ministry’s Financial Directorate.
Mr. Nikos Bourtzinos, Head of the NTA’s Directorate for Complaints Management and Monitoring of the Inspection and Audit Work, presented the complaints evaluation process of the National Transparency Authority, which evaluates complaints related to sports, with the exception of those related to the manipulation of sports competitions which are submitted to the EPATHLA platform. Also, he referred to the Risk Analysis process for prioritising the conduct of financial management audits in sports Federations and other sports clubs sponsored by the General Secretariat for Sport.
Mrs. Gianna Konstantinidi, NTA’s Inspector-Auditor in the Culture and Sports Audit Department, presented the methodology for the conduct of financial-accounting audits by the National Transparency Authority’s Inspectors – Auditors in sports Federations, funded by the supervising Ministry of Culture and Sports. He also referred to the main findings and NTA’s recommendations to the competent authorities.
The audience had the opportunity to take part in an online vote via the "Mentimeter" web application, the results of which stimulated an interesting exchange of views among the speakers.
The webinar was moderated by Mrs. Argyro (Roula) Stefanaki, journalist and Head of the Press and Public Relations Department of the General Secretariat for Sport.