August 31 – Liga Portugal has blazed a sports governance trail becoming the first top tier professional football league to submit to an independent sports integrity audit via SIGA’s Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS).
SIGA awarded the Portuguese league Bronze Certification on Good Governance in Sport.
SIRVS is a rating and certification system that assesses governance rules, processes and practices against SIGA’s Universal Standards – Good governance in sport; Financial integrity in sport; Sports betting integrity, and youth development and protection in sport.
Liga Portugal follows in the footsteps of European Rugby League Federation, the first sports organisation to obtain SIRVS certification.
Pedro Proença, LIGA Portugal’s president, said: “Transparency, ethics and integrity have always been – and will always be – top priorities for Liga Portugal. We have always assumed that it is not enough to express our ambitions, it is necessary to take action. That’s why Liga Portugal was proud to lead by example and become the first national sports organisation to adopt an Anti-Bribery Standard, in 2021…
“Being the first professional football league to achieve this certification reinforces our commitment to protecting our competitions and safeguarding integrity in Professional Football.”
The increasing calls for good governance, transparency and independent scrutiny in football have only become louder, particularly when it has come to governing bodies, leagues and clubs. It has also become a requirement for many of the world’s biggest sports and football sponsors.
While football’s governing bodies can boast huge audiences and a increasing returns on investments for their sponsors, can they equally boast the highest levels of sports integrity.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA’s Global CEO, said: “The SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity, and SIRVS are at the heart of our reform agenda and are designed to support sports organisations’ ongoing governance journey. They are the silver bullet; the most advanced and the only independent tool in the entire global sports industry to assess, rate and certify sports organisations’ governance and deliver, in a rigorous, neutral and objective manner, the indispensable transparency and accountability.
“As the pioneering football league to go through SIRVS, Liga Portugal has undoubtedly demonstrated its commitment to Sport Integrity and continual governance improvement.”
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