17 December 2024, Lausanne – The Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU), in partnership with international law firm Bird & Bird, has successfully hosted a Sports Integrity seminar. Held on the sidelines of the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary, the seminar brought together leading experts, investigators, and sports stakeholders to collaborate and share best practice and resources to advance the integrity of global sport.
The landmark event featured a distinguished line-up of speakers from Bird & Bird, and organisations including the Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU), International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and law enforcement agencies including the UK’s National Crime Agency and Austria’s Criminal Intelligence Service.
Through keynote presentations, breakout sessions and panel discussions, participants explored challenges and opportunities in protecting the integrity of sport, sharing global insights and practical strategies for addressing issues.
The two-day programme featured discussions on themes including: ‘Protecting sport against criminal activity and collaboration with law enforcement’, ‘Use of investigative powers, including interviews and demand powers’ and ‘The view from the bench: common evidentiary issues regarding the output of investigations’. The event’s breakout sessions focused on anti-doping trends, investigative powers, the use of AI, safeguarding in practice and more.
The event concluded with a summary of key takeaways and actionable insights.
Miguel Cardenal Carro, Chairman of the Aquatics Integrity Unit, highlighted the importance of the event, stating:
“This seminar has been immensely valuable in bringing together integrity leaders from across the sporting world to exchange insights, share resources, and learn from one another. At the heart of our mission at the AQIU is the goal of providing confidence to our World Aquatics stakeholders by addressing ethical issues with independence and expertise. This same commitment drives our counterparts in other sports. It was only fitting for us to come together to ensure that sporting violations are addressed and investigated effectively, and, ideally, prevented altogether.”
Participants also had the opportunity to watch world-class aquatics athletes in action, as they attended day three of the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) at the Duna Arena.
The AQIU is committed to fostering a culture of transparency, fairness, and accountability across aquatics and the wider sporting community.
Mr Cardenal Carro concluded: “Fundamentally, we are proud to be a leader in protecting the global sporting ecosystem, ensuring its integrity for the benefit of athletes, fans, sponsors, all stakeholders, and future generations.”
In addition to the seminar, World Aquatics has separately hosted anti-doping booths on-site at the Duna Arena. These booths aim to educate athletes and coaches on the importance of clean sport, offering resources and information on anti-doping protocols and best practices.