President lends support to Sports Protection Committee to eliminate corruption

The State supports the work of the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee and will continue to stand by it with full respect for its work and independence, with the sole aim of completely eliminating sports corruption, the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has said.

He was speaking at the 18 December inauguration of the Committee’s new offices in Nicosia, in the presence of Attorney-General George Savvides and the Minister of Justice and Public Order Anna Koukkides-Procopiou.

In his address at the inauguration ceremony, the President of the Republic said that his presence at the new offices, as well as that of the Attorney-General and the Minister of Justice, is the strongest indication that the Government supports the Committee’s work, with the inauguration of its new offices being, as he said, another important step in strengthening its effectiveness.

He also stressed that another dimension of the Committee’s work is prevention, similar to one of the objectives of the Anti-Corruption Committee.

"I am confident that with hard work, full transparency and cooperation we will succeed in creating a sports sector that is clean, free from illegal financial dependencies and activities, a sector that will provide our young people, and society in particular, with the conditions for comprehensive education, social well-being and above all sporting success," the President underlined, adding that the State supports the Committee’s work and will continue to stand by it with full respect for its work and independence, with the sole aim of completely eliminating corruption in sport.

On his part, Attorney-General George Savvides said the Law Office of the Republic has been working closely with the Committee, adding that the Committee is now able with its current composition to produce results, as in 2023 already 13 cases were sent by the Commission to the Law Office for evaluation, compared to one case in 2021 and two in 2022, with some of them already forwarded to the Police Chief with instructions for criminal investigation while others are under study to decide on their further handling.

Referring to the powers of the Committee, Savvides noted the need for further utilisation of the Committee's legislative framework on education and awareness raising, especially among the younger age groups, adding that an effort is being made to discuss the legislative framework and that the Law Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Government as a whole are very open to considering it, provided that any text that emerges from the process fully safeguards the powers of each institution to avoid overlaps and investigation problems.

In turn, the chairman of the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee, Andreas Kapardis, said that fighting and preventing the manipulation of athletes and sporting events is a key mission of the Committee, adding that this year alone the Committee has met 52 times and has sent numerous investigation findings to the Attorney General and the Police.

Welcoming the inauguration of the Committee’s President Kapardis thanked the President of the Republic, the Attorney-General and the Minister of Justice for their support, as well as the Committee's vice-president and members, adding that the struggle to support sport continues.

(Source: CNA)