Integrity – Inside World Football

IOC gives FIFA a clean bill of health over its backing of Trump and his ‘Board of Peace’

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 04:17:02 +0000

February 23 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s growing bromance with U.S. President Donald Trump has attracted interest in the corridors of power of Olympic sport, though having initially said they would investigate, have now issued a statement saying that the role Infantino is promoting for FIFA in Gaza is “in keeping’ with the role os a sports federation.

The IOC, which has close links with the United Nations and its various development and humanitarian programmes,

Turkish police swoop on five past and present Konyaspor board directors

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:32:33 +0000

February 20 – Turkey’s Konyaspor have released a statement this morning (Friday) confirming that five individuals associated with the club have been arrested.

The club’s official statement is in response to an ongoing legal investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office under Law No. 6222 (Law on Prevention of Violence and Disorder in Sports).
According to the statement, the detainees include оne current member of the club’s board of directors and four former members who served in previous administrations.

Macedo de Medeiros seeks third term as SIGA’s global CEO

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 02:06:20 +0000

January 30 – Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, co-founder of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and its current global chief executive officer, has submitted his re-candidacy for the position of SIGA Global CEO for the 2026–2030 term.

SIGA will also be electing in Ethics Committee and Audit & Compliance committee for the same term. The deadline for the submission of candidacies is March 11.

If elected, this term would represent his third and final mandate as SIGA Global CEO,

Go Ahead Eagles striker Victor Edvardsen gets too lippy with Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:05:02 +0000

December 1 – Dutch club, Go Ahead Eagles striker Victor Edvardsen has been fined after mocking the appearance of Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller, who was born with a cleft lip. During their Europa League match on Thursday, Edvardsen made gestures toward Stiller’s nose, an area often affected by cleft-lip surgery.

After the final whistle, Edvardsen apologised directly to the German international, and the club has now fined him 500 euros, which will be donated to its social services fund.

Tanner talk earns him a suspension as Philadelphia Union and MLS investigate

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:15:25 +0000

November 21 – The 2025 Supporters Shield Champions, Philadelphia Union, announced Wednesday that sporting director Ernst Tanner has been placed on administrative leave as Major League Soccer reopens an investigation into allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviour.

UK newspaper, The Guardian, alleged Tanner used racist language toward Black players, coaches, and referees, and also made sexist and anti-gay remarks. The allegations were originally brought to the league through an MLS Players Association MLSPA complaint.

WSL ref Lisa Benn takes discrimination case to employment tribunal

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 01:06:54 +0000

November 19 – Women’s Super League referee Lisa Benn has told an employment tribunal she lost her place as an international official after speaking up about an incident involving a senior Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) coach/instructor.

Benn (pictured) says that at a PGMOL-run Video Assistant Referee (VAR) training event in March 2023, Steve Child, a former Premier League assistant referee and respected coach inside the organisation, “forcefully pushed her” while trying to hurry her back on to the pitch after a long delay caused by an injury.

Report finds growing racism on Israel’s terraces with Maccabi Tel Aviv fans leading the way

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 07:33:13 +0000

October 24 – Racist chants have been on the rise in Israeli football with Maccabi Tel Aviv the worst offenders, research by Kick It Out Israel has found, prompting NGO FairSquare to argue that the Israeli FA (IFA) is breaching UEFA statutes.

Released in June 2025 by Kick It Out (KIO) Israel, an initiative funded by Givat Haviva, a civil society organisation dedicated to fostering “a shared society for Jews and Arabs”, the report finds a sharp rise in racist behaviour among Israeli supporters and argues that IFA has taken little meaningful action to curb its alarming spread.

Infantino backed Trump for Nobel Peace Prize but it wasn’t a winning ticket

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 09:15:03 +0000

October 10 – Not US President Donald Trump, but María Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to the Venezuelan pro-democracy politician, citing “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Nobel Committee chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes described her as “a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness.”

SIGA’s capacity to deliver SIRVs rating system boosted by new member APC

Paul Nicholson — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:01:24 +0000

October 7 – Cross-border tax advisors APC Audit Tax Advisory has become a member of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA).

APC’s tax arm will also become the first Accredited Body for delivering SIGA’s Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS) that audits sports bodies’ internal operations and statutes against best sports integrity practice, as defined in SIGA’s Universal Standards.

Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, SIGA Co-Founder and Global CEO, said:“At a time when sport urgently needs credibility and strong leadership,

Juve bans three Parma fans for abuse of McKennie. Parma condemn abuse but not fans

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 03:50:44 +0000

October 5 – Serie A club Juventus announced Friday that three Parma supporters have been banned from the Allianz Stadium after directing racist abuse at Weston McKennie during the club’s opening match of the Serie A season.

The incident occurred after Juve’s 2-0 victory in August, when USMNT star, McKennie was subjected to taunts while training post-match. Using its ‘state-of-the-art’ surveillance system, the club identified the offenders and imposed stadium bans under its code of conduct.

Women in Football to drive BUCS and FA’s Women’s Leadership Programme

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:15:35 +0000

September 11 – Women in Football, the professional network of more than 12,000 people that supports equality in the game, is partnering with British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) to run the BUCS & FA Women’s Leadership Programme for the next three years.

Launched in 2019, the female leadership programme has had more than 750 women participate and has been instrumentalin supporting and empowering female students who aspire to careers in the football industry and sport.

Fair Game Index finds English football is in a ‘shocking state’

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 09:43:35 +0000

September 10 – English football lobby group Fair Game has launched the 2025 edition of its report that analyses the health of England’s 164 professional and semi-profession clubs, and it isn’t comfortable reading.

Fair Game says its ‘Fair Game Index’ reveals “the shocking state of football’ in England warning the UK’s newly minted Independent Football Regulator “it has a mammoth task on its hands to shape up the game (with) just four full time clubs are ‘Regulator Ready’.

Drogba and Weah combine to do battle against racism on FIFA panel

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 11:35:07 +0000

September 8 – Two of Africa’s greatest footballing sons, George Weah and Didier Drogba, have stepped into a battle that has been raging since they dominated the beautiful game, namely racism.

The pair headline a freshly formed FIFA 16-strong panel of ex-players tasked with dragging football’s response to discrimination into the modern age. First floated at FIFA’s congress in Thailand earlier this year, the initiative aims to put player power at the heart of anti-racism strategy,

SIGA sets the table for Sport Integrity Action Month

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 07:03:30 +0000

August 28 – SIGA (the Sport Integrity Global Alliance) is ramping up the platform for its month of events, approved by its council in July, under the Sport Integrity Action Month banner.

Evolving from the its Sport Integrity Week that started as a digital-only event in 2020, SIGA said Sport Integrity Action Month “a month-long global action movement, uniting governments, sports bodies, athletes, businesses, media, and civil society. By expanding its scope and duration,

SIGA renews Cityscape Global partnership, Sport Integrity awards to debut on Estaad 2025 platform

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 07:45:25 +0000

August 11 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has renewed its partnership with Cityscape Global as the exclusive Official Sport Integrity Partner of the real estate and urban development platform Estaad 2025, taking place November 17-20 in Saudi Arabia.

Estaad – the Arabic word for Stadium – will this year focus on the sports and entertainment infrastructure being developed in the country.

The event will also see the official launch of the Sport Integrity Awards that will honour organisations and leaders worldwide who exemplify integrity,

‘The Line We Don’t Cross’: Mission 89 and United Through Sports launch campaign to combat sports trafficking

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 10:14:07 +0000

August 1 – Mission 89 and United Through Sports have launched a global campaign to raise awareness of child exploitation, abuse and trafficking in sport, titled ‘The Line We Don’t Cross’.

The campaign was unveiled on the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

At the heart of the initiative is to activate a broad spectrum of sport stakeholders from federations, clubs and agents to sponsors and national governments, behind a commitment to ethical recruitment practices and enhanced safeguarding measures.

SIGA elects new Council, agrees to expand Sport Integrity Week to a month

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 09:21:31 +0000

August 1 – Sport integrity non-profit SIGA (The Sport Integrity Global Alliance) has elected its new Council for the 2025-29 term.

Italy’s Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini retains the chair of the 8-person council as an independent, while António Silva, president of European Aquatics, and Noura Hassan Al Jasmi, president of the UAE Badminton Federation are new council members.

Densign White, CEO, International Mixed Martial Arts Federation and one of SIGA’s founders and key supporters,

Sports integrity group SIGA unveils America Advisory Board

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 00:01:36 +0000

July 28 – With global major sports event focus centring on the USA with the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics Games in Los Angeles in 2028, sports integrity group SIGA has named its SIGA AMERICA Advisory Board for the 2025–2027 cycle.

The Board gathers senior leaders from sport, business, media, law, and social impact sectors – all united by a shared commitment to Good Governance, Sports Betting Integrity, and Youth Protection in Sport.

From hero to zero. Chicharito fined for misogynistic rant

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 09:07:23 +0000

July 24 – Former Manchester United striker, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández is in the process of ruining his reputation after the Mexican Football Federation’s fine and warning for his jaw-dropping TikTok misogyny.

“A few days ago, on the social media platform TikTok, player Javier ‘El Chicharito’ Hernández made statements promoting sexist stereotypes,” the FMF announced Wednesday.

The 37-year-old’s comments included gems like: “’Don’t be afraid to be women, to allow yourselves to be led by a man’ and ‘Women,

No more taking the knee?

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:35:46 +0000

July 23 – Premier League clubs could follow the England Lionesses in stopping taking the knee next season amid growing division among anti-racism campaigners over the merits of the symbolic gesture.

The Premier League is planning to consult with club captains before the start of the campaign and will then take a decision based on the feedback provided in the annual pre-season meeting.

In a decision that’s reignited debate across English football,

The post No more taking the knee? appeared first on Inside World Football.

Soul Touchin’ Experiences partners with SIGA to deliver mentorship programme around 2026 World Cup

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:03:20 +0000

June 26 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has agreed a strategic partnership with Soul Touchin’ Experiences LLC (STE) aimed at advancing inclusion, equity, and integrity in sport.

The partnership will activate via a dedicated mentorship programme for American youth with disabilities.

It will combine the SIGAWomen mentorship model and STE’s expertise in community engagement, civic empowerment, and accessible sport. Focus is on empowering young people with disabilities through leadership development,

Football bodies dominate first Sports Transparency Index

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 04:07:03 +0000

June 20 – Two clubs and one league made it into the top tier of the just launched Sport Transparency Index, a benchmarking tool to assess transparency and good governance across the European Sport ecosystem.

AC Milan and Juventus were the leading clubs that topped the ranking while Germany’s Bundesliga was first among leagues. All three entities scored 14 ranking points and shared the top position with six other sports bodies.

Real Madrid were ranked equal 10th on 13 points.

Sport Transparency Index launched. AC Milan, Juve and Bundesliga at top of ranking

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 23:45:56 +0000

June 18 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has launched its Sport Transparency Index, a benchmarking tool to assess transparency and good governance across the European Sport ecosystem.

The Index focuses on European Sport Stakeholders, from professional clubs to leagues, national federations and international governing bodies. In its first iteration the Index ranks almost 650 organisations, predominantly from Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

There are no English sports entities or clubs ranked,

Players call on FIFA to cut the carbon and put the planet, not the pocket, first

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 04:16:47 +0000

June 11 – Following in the footsteps of their female counterparts, a coalition of male football players has called on FIFA to take urgent climate action.

Led by English midfielder David Wheeler who plays at Shrewsbury, the group demands that the world governing body takes action to safeguard the future of the game and the planet. The coalition includes Welsh international Sam Vokes, Scottish defender Michael Devlin, German cup finalist Maël Corboz, and players from countries including the Netherlands,

SIGA Champions expanded with addition of Brazilian legends Mauro Silva and Tamires Dias

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 29 May 2025 03:46:53 +0000

May 28 – Mauro Silva, aWorld Cup winner with Brazil’s men team in 1994, and Tamires who has more than 100 caps for the Brazilian women’s national team, have joined the SIGA Champions programme.

The champions programme is a global network of sports people committed to promoting the highest standards of integrity in sport.

Silva is widely respected for his ethical conduct on and off the pitch. Since retiring he has serves as Vice President of the Paulista Football Federation,

10 years on: Is FIFA better governed in 2025 than it was in 2015?

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 28 May 2025 05:23:20 +0000

May 28 – On the tenth anniversary of FIFAGate, FairSquare, NGOs, academics, writers, whistleblowers and football supporters’ groups have argued that “FIFA is arguably more poorly governed today than a decade ago”.

FIFA has responded that it is “a completely new organisation”, and that 2015 marked the beginning of a process of “fundamental change”.

“We have been able to fundamentally change FIFA from a toxic organisation at the time, to a respected and trusted global sports governing body,”

Romanian youth focus on player safeguarding and threat of match-fixing with Integriball 2.0 project

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 08:10:32 +0000

March 31 – The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) has launched its Integriball 2.0 project, which aims to protect female and young footballers from threats related to safety and sports manipulation.

FRF, together with the CSCF Foundation for the Integrity of Sport, hosted two major training events at its headquarters. The initiative responds to the specific needs of female and young footballers, and is the first program of its kind in Romania.

The first event,

SIGA and Brazil’s Federal Anti-Corruption Authority (CGU) combine for integrity platform

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:19:00 +0000

March 28 – SIGA Latin America has signed what it says is a landmark Technical Cooperation Agreement with Brazil’s Office of the Comptroller General (Controladoria-Geral da União – CGU) the highest federal authority responsible for promoting transparency, auditing public accounts, enforcing internal control mechanisms, and combating corruption across Brazil.

Through this agreement, SIGA Latin America and the CGU will establish a platform for technical cooperation, focusing on the development and dissemination of policies,

SIGA take Female Leadership Summit to Brazil ahead of 2027 World Cup

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:12:40 +0000

March 26 – Sports integrity body SIGA is to host the inaugural Latin American edition of its Summit on Female Leadership in Sport in São Paulo on May 12 at the law firm Pinheiro Neto Advogados.

The summit reflects SIGA’s ongoing commitment to promoting female leadership and advancing gender equity in Sport.

As part of its global mentorship programme, SIGA now has 40 mentors in the region and applications have been received from a wide range of mentees throughout Latin America.

Op-Ed: From sidelines to boardrooms – women’s leadership in sport can’t wait

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 11:37:07 +0000

By Katie Simmonds, Chair, SIGA Women Council

March 8 – Here we go… again! Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day 2025, and it is time to shine a spotlight on our journey to achieving gender equity in sport. Stifle a yawn.

In reality – what has changed in the last 12 months to tangibly make a difference? How can we contribute to shaping a future that is better for young women with more opportunities to thrive when the pace of change is slow,