UK Sport CEO Liz Nicholl, one of the women involved in the review into allegations of sexism and bullying inside British Cycling, said that whistleblowers "need protecting." Nicholl "will play a supporting role to the panel investigating the claims made by Jess Varnish, Victoria Pendleton and Nicole Cooke, the Olympic cyclists." Even before the make-up of the panel is made public, Nicholl revealed that "there have been numerous responses to UK Sport’s appeal for witnesses to come forward in confidence." The results "will not be published until after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, to allow athletes to focus on preparing for the Games, but Nicholl insists that there will be no whitewash." She said, "One thing I can guarantee is this system will not shirk the need for change. Lessons are always learnt from adversity. Things will always get better when something happens that points to a need for potential positive change" (LONDON TIMES, 5/11).
WORRYING PICTURE: A comprehensive new report released by the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development revealed that neither governments nor the sports industry "are doing nearly enough to combat and reduce match-fixing and illegal betting." The survey said that sports organizations should be mandated to establish integrity committees “with real authority” to aid the fight against criminal gangs.
The report, which covers illicit trading across the entire global economy, "paints a worrying picture of the scale of the problem and includes a specific 20-page section on sports manipulation as an economic crime, calling for a co-ordinated global approach" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 5/11).
INTEGRITY TEST: Veteran Australian sports administrator Kevan Gosper said that "he is open to the idea" of an int'l Independent Commission Against Corruption-style body to keep watch over corruption in all sports.
Speaking at a conference on integrity in sport in Melbourne, Gosper said, "If sport saw this as an improvement on oversight, it shouldn't resist it." But he added that it "would work only if set up co-operatively rather than being imposed on sporting bodies." British PM David Cameron "has put the idea on the agenda for a wide-ranging anti-corruption summit in London on Thursday." Gosper also said that sporting leaders "should be subjected to independent probity tests before they took office." He said, "It is insufficient simply for a person to be voted by a democratic process. Once that person's voted in, they then should be put to the test integrity-wise. I think more should be done in this area" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5/11).
LEAGUE BRIEFS ...
Advanced secrecy provisions "have been included" in the Australian Football League's tougher new illicit drugs policy, "which was signed off with the players on Wednesday night." Club bosses "will be forced to sign confidentiality deeds when receiving the results of out-of-season hair tests on the understanding those results will not be passed on to coaches, club presidents or directors." Although the key details were agreed to last August and the policy announced in October, "it has taken a further seven months to finalise, with one sticking point being players' privacy concerns in the wake of the Collingwood drug test revelations" (SMH, 5/11).
Melbourne Racing Club "set a new date for members to vote again on the contentious question of extending the terms of office bearers by six years -- Bletchingly Stakes day at Caulfield on July 30." Club CEO Brodie Arnhold said that "the date would give members six weeks to prepare for a return to to the polls." Club Chair Mike Symons, Vice Chair Peter Le Grand and Treasurer Domenic Romanelli "are seeking to extend their terms a further six years" (THE AGE, 5/11).
