World Anti-Doping Agency CEO David Howman said there is "criminal engagement" in 25% of all global sport, according to the AFP. Howman, speaking at a conference in London on Monday, said that doping -- WADA's area of responsibility -- bribery and match-fixing "were all linked." Howman told the Int'l Centre for Sport Security's "Securing Sport" conference, "Twenty-five percent of sport worldwide has criminal engagement. It's information that's given to us by law enforcement people. They've been telling us this now for a couple of years. The people who are distributing and making a lot of money out of steroids -- and not necessarily at elite level, even at kids -- are the same guys involved in match-fixing and bribery and so on" (AFP, 10/7). INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL's Andrew Warshaw reported the head of the "increasingly influential" ICSS has warned that "the need for action to combat global corruption is greater than ever." ICSS President Mohamed Hanzab said sport was "under threat in a way unprecedented in its history" with corruption "lurking in the shadows." The global sports-betting industry is currently worth up to €500B ($633B), 80% of which is illegal, with more than €140B ($177B) "laundered in sports betting every year." Hanzab said, "When a fan pays to watch sport, they want a fair competition. When an athlete trains, it is because they expect the competition to be fair and the rules to be upheld. Too often, these are not happening. ... This is not the sport we want. We are at a crossroads. If we continue on this path, sport will come to be seen as an arena of corruption, violence, and anti-heroes." Emanuel Maradas de Medeiros, Portuguese head of the newly opened ICSS office in Europe, "deflected a question" about where the organization got its funding from "and whether it had some kind of political agenda." But in an earlier address to delegates, Medeiros "made it clear" the ICSS "doesn't have profit-making purposes or represent leagues, federations or clubs and does not depend on governments." Medeiros: "We are truly an independent body" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/7).
TYGART'S TAKE: In Sydney, Roy Masters wrote U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart "has slammed the role of Australia's former federal government" in the Australian Football League and National Rugby League supplements saga. Tygart described the intervention of former Federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy and her senior advisors -- in seeking to have AFL players escape sanction, while NRL players are penalized -- "as undermining the global campaign against doping." Tygart said, "The political influence in the ASADA case in the two football codes in Australia has done a disservice to anti-doping." Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton, whose portfolio embraces sport, has indicated that "he will launch a judicial or Senate enquiry into the role of the former government in the supplements investigation." The USADA is independent of government, while ASADA "is a quasi-government body with the federal sports minister making major appointments, including the chief executive and the advisory board." Tygart said that "he doubted whether he would have been able to successfully prosecute Lance Armstrong if his agency had been subject to the same influence the government exercised over ASADA" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 10/7).
