Swiss government chairs IPACS Steering Committee meeting for the first time
The first meeting of the year of the IPACS Steering Committee was held virtually on 2 April, and brought together 18 participants representing sports organisations, governments, intergovernmental organisations and the athletes’ community. The gathering marked the beginning of Switzerland being chair for the 2025-26 period, with Swiss and IOC representatives leading the session from the symbolic location of Macolin in the canton of Bern, Switzerland.
“To start, I would like to express one more time my thanks for the honour of Switzerland's appointment to chair our partnership for the next two years,” affirmed Wilhem Rauch, Head of Strategic Legal Services of the Swiss Government’s Federal Office of Sport. “For the Swiss government and Switzerland – as a host to many international sports organisations – the integrity of sport and the work of IPACS are of great importance.”
Strong partnership
Organisations represented at the meeting included governmental authorities from Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the UK, as well as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).
Good governance, cross-sector collaboration and AI on the agenda
Participants received updates about the work of the various IPACS Task Forces and Working Groups, and discussed activities related to the promotion of good governance in sport, cross-sector cooperation, and artificial intelligence (AI) and (anti-)corruption.
The updates related to good governance included the launch of this year’s Good Governance Workshops for IOC-recognised sports organisations; the progress in developing the IPACS Sport Governance Benchmark & Guidelines Handbook to be launched later this year; and the Council of Europe’s visits to Member States to support the implementation of the European Sports Charter. In relation to the efforts to enhance the cooperation between sports organisations and criminal justice authorities, the update focused on the future initiative of a Guide on the Prosecution of Bribery in Sport.
In addition, the participants learnt about an AI and (anti-)corruption in sport questionnaire developed by the Working Group experts and aimed at assessing the experience of the IPACS community on this topic; as well as about the upcoming publication by the OECD and UNODC of learning materials on the matter.
The links between corruption and competition manipulation
A dedicated session focused on the prevention of competition manipulation, with discussions on the Council of Europe’s Macolin Convention and a presentation by the Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions. The session highlighted key areas for collaboration and synergies within the IPACS framework.
Finally, the Steering Committee approved the admission of new experts to two of its Task Forces, reinforcing the partnership’s collective efforts to fight corruption in sport; and received an update on the IPACS 2025 roadmap.
The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for 3 July 2025, with a third meeting planned for 10 September at London’s historic Guildhall, to be hosted by UK Sport.