Second Seminar of Integrity Officers in Sport: Strengthening Cooperation and Institutional Capacity of Sports Federations
On 10 December, Kyiv hosted the second Seminar of Integrity Officers of sports federations — a major event that brought together around 50 representatives of the National Platform of Sports Integrity, sports federations and international partners to strengthen Ukraine’s national system for combating the manipulation of sports competitions.
The seminar opened with the awarding of distinctions by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to officers of the National Police who ensured the successful investigation of Ukraine’s first criminal case concerning an attempted corrupt influence on the results of an official sports competition. On behalf of Minister Matvii Bidnyi, First Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Yurii Muzyka presented commendations and certificates of appreciation to the police officers for their contribution to strengthening integrity in sport.
In his welcome address, Yurii Muzyka emphasized that challenges related to competition manipulation are becoming increasingly complex, and effective response depends on close cooperation between Ethics Committees of sports federations, the National Platform and law enforcement agencies. “The formation of an extensive and competent network of integrity officers is a key prerequisite for an honest and transparent sporting environment,” he stressed.
The participants were also addressed by Vadym Huttsait, President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, who underlined the importance of international cooperation and expressed gratitude to partners for their continued support of Ukraine.
The seminar was moderated by Natalia Radchuk, Secretary of the National Platform of Sports Integrity. The event gathered international and national experts in the field of combating competition manipulation.
Evangelos Alexandrakis, Senior Manager of the IOC’s Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions, presented the modern IOC model for countering competition manipulation. He outlined the committee’s key areas of work — regulation, awareness-raising and effective information exchange — highlighted the implementation of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions and the role of sports federations and NOCs as Single Points of Contact. He also presented the updated Believe in Sport educational campaign.
Nicolas Sayde, Secretary of the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, provided an overview of global trends in competition manipulation and presented analytical findings of the Copenhagen Group — the network of national platforms for sports integrity — including the most vulnerable sports, geographical patterns of risks and seasonal peaks of suspicious activity. He emphasized the importance of harmonized legislation, the development of national platforms, transparent information-sharing mechanisms and the participation of states in international networks, noting Ukraine’s active role.
Dmytro Zadorozhnyi, representative of the NOC of Ukraine, outlined national and international threats related to match-fixing and stressed the need for coordinated action between sport and the state to counter corruption risks.
Natalia Radchuk, Secretary of the National Platform, and Andrii Nekrutov, expert of the Platform, presented the results of the Platform’s work, key trends in suspicious activities, the practice of cross-border information exchange within the Copenhagen Group and the network of operators coordinated by IBIA, as well as institutional progress in responding to manipulation. In the context of educational and preventive work, the experts reported that in 2025 alone the National Platform conducted 29 educational and training events with the participation of almost 900 representatives of the sports community — athletes, coaches, referees and federation officials.
Andrii Davydenko and Anastasiia Bilenko, representatives of the Ethics and Fair Play Committee of the Ukrainian Association of Football, presented key practices and tools applied in football, highlighting disciplinary mechanisms and systematic cooperation with the National Platform.
Sviatoslav Syrota, representative of the NGO “Play Fair”, shared successful cases of countering manipulation in team sports and described organizational models that enable rapid detection of risks.
Maria Bulatova, Vice President of the NOC of Ukraine, presented the Erasmus+ project “Atlas of Integrity and Values in the Neighbourhood Region”, aimed at fostering a culture of integrity, ethical standards and educational practices within sports organizations.
The Second Seminar of Integrity Officers confirmed that Ukraine is strengthening its sports institutions, expanding its professional network of specialists and deepening coordination with international partners. Investigation, education, cooperation and experience-sharing remain key components in building a system of sports integrity that guarantees honest and transparent competitions for all participants of the sports movement.