8th IPACS Annual General Conference highlights partnership’s growth and new tools

The high turnout was a strong demonstration of the partnership’s growth by 43% in the past year, with an increase of IPACS partners from 51 to 73 in only 12 months.

Launch of new Handbook

With IPACS always looking for pragmatic solutions to fight corruption in sport, the conference provided the opportunity to launch the Sport Governance Benchmark and Guidelines Handbook. Attendees heard from a panel of experts on how the Handbook – an accessible, new tool for sport organisations – is poised to support the implementation of the Benchmark’s 50 recommendations. English, French and Spanish versions of the Handbook are now available in the Good Governance section of the IPACS tools library.

Good governance and collaboration as key success factors

During the meeting, Sandra Felix, Director of the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) of Switzerland, IPACS Chair for 2025-26, emphasised the need to protect sport from threats such as corruption. “The implementation of good governance principles,” she underscored, “is central to preventing misconduct and mismanagement.” She highlighted the value of the IPACS Sport Governance Benchmark in this respect and stressed the importance of cross-sector cooperation to ensure wrongdoing is sanctioned, underlining the partnership’s important contribution to this through its Cooperation Task Force.

Enhancing cooperation between sport and criminal justice authorities

Cross-sector collaboration is at the heart of IPACS. One conference session focused on the topic of enhancing cooperation between sports organisations and criminal justice authorities in order to address cases of corruption and crime in a comprehensive manner. Speakers from the worlds of sport and prosecutions shared their insights on challenges relating to cross-sector cooperation and how these can be overcome. Some examples of successful cooperation included the Joint Integrity Unit that is established for each Olympic Games, and the strong cooperation between the International Cricket Council and criminal justice authorities in Sri Lanka following the passage of legislation specifically concerning corruption in sport.

Staying ahead of the curve: using AI to support sports integrity

Another topic high on the agenda was the role AI can play in combatting corruption in sport. The newly established IPACS AI Working Group updated the attendees on a mapping of the current relationship between AI and (anti-)corruption in the sports sector, based on a survey with the IPACS community earlier this year. Other discussions addressed how to assist sports organisations in this important field and how to efficiently share the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s experience when it comes to AI and its implications for sports integrity.

A stronger partnership

Finally, participants were presented the results of the IPACS Partner Report 2025, which explained how the partnership has grown by 43% in the past year – from 51 to 73 partners. They also discussed IPACS events in 2026 and engaged in discussions where the partnership should direct its attention to in the coming year.

After the conference concluded, Felix affirmed: “It was a pleasure to speak at the 8th IPACS Annual General Conference, the first to take place with Switzerland serving as IPACS Chair. I was impressed by the strong collective commitment on the part of the assembled participants to anti-corruption in sport. Looking ahead, I am confident about the future of the partnership. As stated during the conference, IPACS has seen impressive growth in the past year, and has also developed new tools to help sports organisations improve their good governance. I am certain that this positive development will continue. We are looking forward to Switzerland's second year as Chair of IPACS – together we can make a difference.”

Click here to discover all speakers and consult the full agenda.