Driving Change in Sports Governance through IPACS Collaboration

November 4, Lausanne, Switzerland – On October 11, General Assembly of the International Partnership against Corruption in Sport (IPACS) was hosted by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome. ISF Integrity Committee Chair Sophie Bordet was present to discuss the progress of International School Sport Federation (ISF) on advancing good governance.

IPACS is a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to uniting international sports organisations, governments, inter-governmental bodies, and other relevant stakeholders to support efforts aiming at eliminating corruption and fostering a culture of good governance in sports.

Ms. Pâquerette Girard Zappelli, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Chair of the assembly, presented the work of IPACS expert task forces. These task forces focus on:

• Strengthening the good governance in sport as a mitigating factor of corruption in various risk areas such as procurement of infrastructure and services in major sports events, integrity in the selection of major sporting events and dissemination and promotion of good governance principles among the IPACS stakeholders. 
   
• Enhancing cooperation between criminal justice authorities and sports organizations. 
   
• Exploring the possibility of analyzing the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) has on corruption in sport, on both prevention and detection of wrongdoing. 

ISF’s Contributions to Governance in School Sports

The benefits of ISF’s involvement in IPACS was explained at the assembly, “Once we became a member of IPACS, we got access to the 50 recommendations, practical examples, webinars, and all the IPACS network,” ISF representatice Sophie Bordet noted. “It allowed us to inform our members and stakeholders about integrity and good governance.”