- Details
- Published: April 15, 2020
Exchange of Experiences in Tunis on combating Corruption in Sport
On 10 and 11 March 2020, IRZ organised an exchange of experiences on “Combating Corruption in Sport – Applying the Law in Sport” in partnership with the Tunisian National Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC = Institution Nationale de Lutte Contre la Corruption). Whilst Tunisia has already ratified all the relevant international and regional conventions on preventing and combating corruption, the subject continues to be topical. Corruption is a relevant topic in politics, public administration, justice and civil society, such as sports associations. Prior to this event, it was reported in Tunisia that sports clubs are increasingly being financed by companies and that the bribery and corruption of referees is rising. There are also problems with invitations to tender and with elections within sports associations. It was reported that there has recently been an increase in tax fraud and money laundering in the sports industry. The Tunisian justice system does not include any form of arbitration to cover sports issues.
This led to the establishment of the following main topics of conversation for the exchange of experiences:
- good governance in sports associations in Germany and Tunisia
- codes of conduct and the management of sports associations
- mechanisms for combating and preventing corruption in Germany and Tunisia
- arbitration and alternative dispute resolution
Sport is also the largest civilian movement in Tunisia and, following the 2010 revolution, sports associations now need to establish their new roles in the division from politics. At the same time, sport has high expectations of the government and state administration. Over the course of the two-day event, all the important representatives from the Ministry of Sport, state controlling bodies and sports associations were represented and positioned themselves with speeches and interventions. On the Tunisian side, the event was organised by
- Shawki Al-Tabib, President of the National Anti-Corruption Authority,
- Ahmed Galoul, Minister for Youth and Sport, and
- Mehry Boussaine, President of the National Olympic Commission in Tunisia.
Representing IRZ at the event was Dr. Helmut Brocke, a lawyer and former Senior District Manager.
The topic of "Combating Corruption in Sport” was met with a great deal of interest from sports associations, as well as from the worlds of politics, justice, administration and, not least, the media. With participants from a wide variety of backgrounds, many different points of view were presented and discussed. An intense exchange of experiences took place throughout both days of the event. There are plans to continue the cooperation with the INLUCC.
Background information
With the help of institutional funding, IRZ has been organising bilateral projects on legal reform with its Tunisian partners since 2011. The exchange of experiences detailed above was a continuation of the opening event on “Combating Corruption – Mechanisms and Prevention”, part of the working programme for 2019 and 2020 organised by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, which took place in Tunis in October 2019.