IPACS was launched at the IOC’s International Forum on Sport Integrity (IFSI) held in February 2017. It is a multi-stakeholder platform with the mission “to bring together international sports organisations, governments, inter-governmental organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen and support efforts to eliminate corruption and promote a culture of good governance in and around sport”, as agreed at IPACS’ first working group meeting in June 2017.

Interest in the Partnership has grown significantly since its formation, and its aims and programme of work have been discussed at numerous international events, including the 14th and 15th Council of Europe Conferences of Ministers responsible for Sport (Budapest 2016 and Tbilisi in 2018 respectively); the conference on Safeguarding Sport from Corruption organised in implementation of resolution 7/8 on corruption in sport adopted in November 2017 by the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum in March 2018; calls made by the G20 leaders in the 2017 Hamburg Leaders Communiqué; the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the inclusion of corruption in sport and a commitment to support IPACS as part of the 2019-2021 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan. For the first time, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) directly referred to IPACS in UNGA Resolution “Sport as an enabler of sustainable development” (A/77/L.28), adopted in December 2022.

Other official recognitions of IPACS:

• Declaration on sport integrity adopted by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, September 2023

• Report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, June 2023

• UN General Assembly Resolution “Sport as an enabler of sustainable development” (A/79/L.10), November 2024

• Resolution of the 18^th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport, October 2024

The central body of IPACS is its Steering Committee which involves:

• governmental representatives from any country interested in joining the partnership,
• intergovernmental organisations and
• sports organisations.

The agenda and organisational modalities of IPACS are prepared and supported by a Steering Committee. The current composition of the Steering Committee (term January 2025 - December 2026) is as follows:

• Chair: Switzerland
• International Olympic Committee (IOC) – Co-founding partner
• Council of Europe (CoE) – Co-founding partner
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – Co-founding partner
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Co-founding partner
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – Co-founding partner
• Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF);
• Athletes’ representative, Oluseyi Smith, OLY;
• Australia
• Canada
• International Equestrian Federation (FEI);
• Mexico;
• Saudi Arabia;
• The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).

The principles, procedures and governance of IPACS are set out in the IPACS Governance Guidelines.

IPACS expertise has evolved since the partnership was established in 2017. Currently, the work of IPACS is thematically divided across two task forces (good governance and cross-sector cooperation) and one working group (artificial intelligence and corruption in sport). The areas of expertise of the experts participating in these task forces and working group include the following:

• Reducing the risk of corruption in procurement relating to sporting events and infrastructure;
• Ensuring integrity in the selection of major sporting events;
• Strengthening good governance principles to mitigate the risk of corruption;
• Enhancing effective cooperation between law enforcement, criminal justice authorities and sports organisations; and
• Artificial intelligence and corruption in sport.