National Volleyball Workshop for Coaches: Focus on Integrity, Transparency and Countering Manipulation in Sport
On 07-08 May 2025, the Ukrainian Volleyball Seminar for Coaches was held in Horodok city and Khmelnytskyi city, organised by the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the National Olympic Committee, as well as with the support of the Epicentre Group of Companies. The event brought together coaches from different regions of the country and became an important platform for professional dialogue on various aspects of coaching, from the psychology of interaction with athletes to training systems and discussion of new rules. Integrity, transparency and countering the manipulation in sports were also among the key topics discussed.
As part of the module ‘Counteracting the Manipulation of Sports Competition Results’, Nataliia Radchuk, Secretary of the National Platform of Sports Integrity, presented global trends in sports betting and their impact on the growth of integrity violations in sports. Combined with economic instability and the effects of war, this creates a situation in which many athletes, especially young ones, are vulnerable to match-fixing.
The participants' attention was focused on the fact that sports organisations are obliged to implement clear rules and mechanisms to prevent corruption from influencing the results of competitions. Nataliia Radchuk noted that coaches, as representatives of these organisations, should not only comply with the established norms, but also actively promote a culture of integrity in the sports environment. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary sanctions or criminal liability.
Participants of the seminar were familiarised with the key provisions of the integrity requirements, in particular those related to prohibitions on manipulating the results of matches, using insider information, as well as transparency rules, i.e. reporting any cases of attempts to bribe or influence athletes.
An important aspect of the seminar was the presentation of an initiative to create a Network of Integrity Officers in sports federations. This network is aimed at identifying responsible persons at the level of sports federations, coordinating efforts to combat the manipulation of competitions, as well as developing professional skills and raising awareness of the Fair Play principles.
It was emphasised that successful implementation of the national policy on sports integrity is impossible without active cooperation between the National Platform and all participants of the sports movement. Coaches and referees play a special role in this process, as they are at the forefront of shaping a new sports culture based on transparency, responsibility and respect for the Fair Play principles.