First of all, I would like to thank you warmly for the invitation to attend and welcome this important event. An event which aims to inform, organise and coordinate all stakeholders on issues of sports match manipulation.
Sport is an area which should represent and promote ethics, fair play and the high ideals of ''fair play''. It is the duty and obligation of all of us to protect sport from the phenomenon of corruption, the consequences of which, in addition to speculation and damage to the integrity of the sport, are the danger to which athletes and individuals involved in the sport are exposed.
In the context of addressing the phenomena of corruption in Cypriot sport, special legislation was passed to combat the manipulation of sporting events which is aligned with the relevant Council of Europe Convention.
Indeed, the law introduced important innovations, since for the first time the manipulation of sporting events is defined as a corruption offence, while a specific offence was created for bribery - bribery aimed at altering the result of a sports match.
Important powers were given to the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee, including the power to collect information, the ex officio examination of complaints concerning violations of the law and the issuance of instructions for the implementation of preventive measures against the manipulation of results in competitions and money laundering from illegal activities.
Important provisions were also introduced to regulate the incompatibility of the status of athlete and sports agent, provisions for the safeguarding and protection of confidential information and the complainant and the drafting of a binding code of ethics and conduct.
However, as in any effort to combat corruption, the effective and successful implementation of a law that is an important aid requires addressing the problem in all its aspects. It therefore requires mutual cooperation with international bodies, understanding and awareness of the role of athletes in the phenomena of corruption, continuous information on new methods of committing the relevant offences and the implementation of effective and practical measures to prevent and deter the phenomena of corruption in sport. This is what the present event is aimed at.
For its part, the Legal Service will do its best to avoid the delays observed in the adjudication of manipulation cases, since, apart from the undeniable fact that they are linked to the need to protect witnesses, it is evident that in several cases they vary the facts of cases, resulting in prosecution witnesses withdrawing and not testifying before the Court. A typical example is the case of a football match manipulation case that was registered in the Criminal Court in 2020 but after continuous postponements, the prosecution against the defendants was suspended after the two main prosecution witnesses no longer wished to testify.
A number of cases of sports match manipulation are currently under investigation and recently there was the first court decision where a football player was found guilty in relation to offences in breach of the Anti-Manipulation of Sporting Events Act.
Particularly important, of course, is the role of the Courts with the need for speedy adjudication of cases and also the need to impose severe penalties in such a way that the penalties become a deterrent for would-be offenders.
I would like to conclude by congratulating the organisers of the event for this initiative. I am sure that it will be an important step in the effort to combat corruption in the field of sport and I hope that with the contribution of all of us, Cypriot sport will return to where it belongs and deserves to be.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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