On Thursday 15.09.2022 the international Webinar "Tackling Corruption in Sports in the 21st century" took place in the framework of the implementation of the Annual Work Programme of the Council of Europe's Network of Corruption Prevention Authorities (NCPA) under the Chairmanship of the National Transparency Authority (NTA).
Representing the Presiding Authority of the Network, Mr. Ioannis Foustanakis, Director of Strategic Planning and Behavioural Analysis Department of the NTA, opened the proceedings of the workshop, noting that "Greece has adopted a National Strategic Plan for the Fight against Corruption (NACAP), which includes prevention and awareness-raising actions in the field of sport".
The discussion was attended by Mr. George Mavrotas, Minister of Sport, President of the Hellenic Sports Federation and Chairman of the Committee for the monitoring of the Macolin Convention of the Council of State, who during his presentation presented, among other things, the initiatives that our country has taken in terms of combating corruption in sport, with emphasis on the Macolin Convention and the Hellenic Sports Federation. Mr. Mavrotas stressed the need for constructive cooperation of national bodies and international cooperation as well as the importance of more countries to ratify the convention in order to strengthen the overall international framework because it is the only legally binding international treaty. As the issue has been of concern to the majority of Anti-Corruption Authorities worldwide, the workshop was attended by representatives of the Council of Europe and the Network countries.
During the first part, distinguished speakers from the Anti-Corruption Authorities of Italy, France and the Palestinian Authority (Mr. Ponzone, Mr. Bertaccini, Mr. Zubek, Dr. Hamdi) presented the initiatives they have taken to develop national strategies to fight corruption in sport. In the second part of the seminar, participants had the opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented in the implementation of the regulatory framework and to share good practices they have adopted in the context of public awareness initiatives. The event was moderated by Mr. Leyenberger, representative of the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).