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ICSS takes centre stage as demand for sports integrity expertise grows

ICSS takes centre stage as demand for sports integrity expertise grows

By Andrew Warshaw

March 28 – When Mohammed Hanzab set up the International Centre for Sport Security back in 2010 with the vision of safeguarding global sport from corruptive practises, there were plenty of cynics who took the view it was simply a self-serving vanity project.

But more than a decade on, stakeholders are queuing up to partner with the Qatar-based not-for-profit organisation.

The latest of these is the Brazilian FA which last week signed a landmark co-operation deal to protect Brazilian football – leagues, clubs and officials – from match-fixing and other threats to its integrity including a training and awareness campaign.

“When CBF told us about their plans to position Brazil, with its over 200 million inhabitants and many more Brazilian Football fans around the world, as an international benchmark in the field of integrity, we understood there was a unique opportunity to put into practice, on the ground, all the knowledge and the instruments we have developed in the last 12 years,” Hanzab (pictured left), ICSS’s founder and chairman,  said at the signing ceremony at Wembley on the eve of the England-Brazil friendly.

The CBF deal marked the first time the ICSS had struck a long-term partnership with a specific national football federation, having previously dealt mainly with governing bodies.

“It’s a very serious agreement, it’s not just signing a piece of paper and it’s not just about one issue alone,” Hanzab said in an interview with Insideworldfootball on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.

“It’s a total reform of best practise in Brazilian football, supported by both Conmebol and FIFA, and in my opinion a very courageous step for them to admit they have an issue. Our aim is to make Brazil a benchmark for others to follow. Things like match fixing and illegal betting have a huge negative economic impact.”

Since its establishment, the ICSS has worked with numerous National Olympic Committees,…


Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/03/28/icss-takes-centre-stage-demand-sports-integrity-expertise-grows/

Author : Paul Nicholson

Publish date : 2024-03-28 14:22:02

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