New IOC Integrity and Compliance Hotline fully operational
Open to athletes, coaches, referees and the public, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Integrity and Compliance Hotline is now fully operational. The web-based hotline, which was launched last April, offers a new reporting mechanism for potential cases of competition manipulation as well as other violations of the IOC Code of Ethics. Reports can be made anonymously, and all information received is dealt with confidentially.
Anyone can now report suspicious behaviour or activities related to competition manipulation and infringements of the IOC Code of Ethics or other matters which fall under the IOC’s jurisdiction. These include financial misconduct or other legal, regulatory and ethical breaches.
How to access the new hotline
The new tool is fully operational and accessible via the IOC website at www.olympic.org/integrityhotline. The reporting is guided by a set of questions, which facilitate categorisation of the incident, and the gathering of important facts and, where available, evidence.
Claudia Bokel, Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission said: “The new hotline is an idea that emerged from discussions at the IOC’s International Athletes’ Forum. It sets out to help athletes in two very concrete ways: by detecting violations and providing justice; as well as by serving as a contact point athletes can turn to in case of suspicions about any kind of infringement. Clearly this is never a comfortable situation to be confronted with, but the hotline offers an efficient way to deal with it and guarantees 100% confidentiality. We now need to spread the word so everybody is aware of the hotline and can access it.”
Priority of Olympic Agenda 2020
The structure of the new tool is also fully in line with Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement as adopted by the full IOC membership at the end of last year. Olympic Agenda 2020 puts a strong focus on protecting clean athletes. Platforms like the IOC’s International Athletes’ Forum offered the opportunity to obtain direct input from athletes on their needs and priorities.
Other related measures recently initiated and financed by the IOC include a future prevention programme for the fight against match-fixing and related corruption in cooperation with INTERPOL, and a mandatory Integrity E-Learning tool for all athletes, officials and IOC/NOC staff prior to or during the Olympic Games.