Brazilian Football Confederation and SIGA sign cooperation agreement to promote integrity in football

THE Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), the world’s largest coalition in the field of Sport Integrity, formalized this afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, a decisive cooperation agreement for the integrity of Brazilian football.

With this historic agreement, CBF joins SIGA in placing Good Governance and Integrity at the top of their agenda, initiating a comprehensive and in-depth process of reforms aimed at enhancing the integrity, reputation, and credibility of football in the five-time FIFA World Champion’s country.

The partnership now established follows the close collaboration that SIGA has maintained for several years with various international and national sports organizations, such as UEFA, the European Rugby League, the European Aquatics (LEN), the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Sao Paulo Football Federation (FPF), or the Portuguese Professional Football League (Liga Portugal), in addition to various leagues and national federations.

Signed by the leaders of both institutions, the agreement aims to address the urgent challenges faced by Brazilian football, promoting the modernization of the sector, the qualification of its agents, and a culture of integrity at all levels, in accordance with SIGA’s Universal Standards.

As part of the agreement, CBF, SIGA, and its regional subsidiary SIGA LATIN AMERICA will cooperate in several key areas, namely: Prevention and combat against all threats to the Integrity of football; Implementation of SIGA’s Universal Standards on Sport Integrity and SIGA’s Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS); Sharing of knowledge and implementation of best practices in terms of Good Governance in Sport, Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport, Sports Betting Integrity, and Youth Development and Protection in Sport; Prevention and combat against racism, violence, and all forms of discrimination, as well as promotion of gender equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility; Organization of joint events, including conferences, workshops, and award ceremonies, such as the SIGA GRID Awards and the Brazilian Soccer Integrity Awards; and Active engagement in the institutional development of SIGA LATIN AMERICA and in SIGA’s global reform agenda in Brazil, promoting cordial relations and constructive cooperation with all relevant organizations, authorities, and partners in the sector Ednaldo Rodrigues, President of the Brazilian Football Confederation, highlighted the relevance of the agreement signed with SIGA: “We have established a very important partnership to fight against all types of criminality affecting football, such as match-fixing, money laundering, racism, and harassment. With solid expertise in all these topics, SIGA is the world’s largest institution in Sport Integrity. They operate independently, always ensuring that sport becomes cleaner and more transparent. That’s what CBF is pursuing too. SIGA will work with the Integrity Unit at CBF, which has been engaged with all the major institutions in the world.

CBF’s tolerance for any type of criminal activities in soccer is zero. Our work will be based on this partnership, and we will keep doing what we have always done, also in conjunction with FIFA. As a FIFA member, we will continue to fly this flag. Today we took a very important step, and it will not be the only one. We will share more relevant news and partnerships in the near future”.

Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, Global CEO of SIGA and President and CEO of SIGA LATIN AMERICA, emphasized: “Brazilian Football has a world-wide significance that nobody can deny. This significance is not unrelated to its five FIFA World Cup titles and the genius with which Pelé, Garrincha, Zico, Sócrates, Ronaldo, and many others elevated football as an art.

Brazilian Football, however, can and should be more than its past glories. It can and must look to the future and realize its potential. To be modern, competitive, and sustainable. With a reformist vision, future strategy, and long-term objectives. A Football of Causes, not Cases. Free from scandals, opportunists, and suspicions. Football regulated, managed, and administered under the highest standards of Good Governance and Integrity. Capable of deserving the passion of the fans and justifying the legitimate expectations of all those who play, work, and invest in it.

Brazil can no longer wait – this is what I have been hearing from everyone I have spoken with. The window of opportunity is narrow, and there is, undoubtedly, a lot of work ahead. That is why we are here, kicking off with the signing of this cooperation agreement with the CBF and its President, whom I congratulate for taking this important step forward.

The signing of this agreement is not an end in itself, nor a blank check. On the contrary, it is a set of duties, a set of responsibilities that we embrace. That binds us both – SIGA and CBF. And we will materialize it! And it starts now!” Antônio Carlos Basto, member of the CBF’s Integrity Unit, stated that the partnership is important on several fronts, especially in combating match-fixing, one of the entity’s key initiatives: “This is a very important partnership due to the leadership role that SIGA has in matters of Sport Integrity. When CBF created its Integrity Unit, it aimed – and continues to aim – to be at the forefront of the fight against match-fixing. The creation of the CBF Integrity Unit was conceived in collaboration with FIFA and Conmebol.

Today, match-fixing is as big a challenge to the integrity of sport, just like doping is. In terms of fighting doping, there is already an organized international system, led by UNESCO and the World Anti-Doping Convention. The world’s great challenge today is the one posed by match-fixing, which is a negative externality resulting from the existence of sports betting.

CBF wants to be at the forefront of this fight in partnership with public authorities, such as the ones we have in place with the Public Ministry, the Federal Police, the Ministry of Justice, and various service providers who also assist us in combating match-fixing.

“We count on respected international entities, such as SIGA and ICSS, to promote the best practices in the area. We want CBF to be an example to the world.”