(ABOVE) Attendees of the CONCACAF/INTERPOL/FIFA Integrity training course held in Miami, April 21-23, 2015.
MIAMI – CONCACAF’s continuing efforts to combat match manipulation received a boost last week, when a three-day “Train the “Trainer” workshop concluded Thursday in Miami.
Representatives from CONCACAF, INTERPOL and FIFA conducted the program for 19 participants from eight countries, representing each of the Confederation’s three sub-regions. The attendees were provided with intensive instruction on methods to recognize approaches made by match-fixers, as well how to educate players, referees, coaches and officials on all facets of the issue.
Additionally, CONCACAF’s rules/regulations and Code of Ethics were thoroughly reviewed. The Code of Ethics prohibits behavior that damages or could damage football’s integrity. It also obligates individuals to report possible match-manipulation incidents in order to protect themselves and to cooperate in any CONCACAF investigation.
“Match-fixing is a known problem in international sport and the biggest threat to the integrity of football,” said Ralf Mutschke, Director of Security at FIFA. “To tackle the global problem of match-fixing, a holistic approach is crucial to find sustainable solutions. The FIFA Security Division, in partnership with INTERPOL's Integrity in Sport Unit developed a multifaceted program to build capacities to fight those manipulations.
“Training the Trainer is an important multiplication initiative to address the increasing global threat of match-fixing and provide specific recommendations to key stakeholders. It is of utmost importance to have strong allies in that fight. FIFA highly values the cohesive support of CONCACAF to combat match-manipulation.”
After passing the final training assessment, those taking part in the workshop will receive certification from INTERPOL and become CONCACAF Integrity Officers.
Dr. Julie Norris, INTERPOL Head of the Interpol Sports Integrity Unit, said “I was excited to be in Miami with participants from over eight countries in the CONCACAF region. We appreciated the opportunity to train the attendees over the three days in order to spread the message of integrity to all of our partners and protect the targets of criminals in the football family.’
As a component of CONCACAF’s expanding commitment in the battle against match–manipulation and as part of the broad prevention program, it will have an integrity officer assigned to each of the 12 teams participating in this summer’s Gold Cup. From an on-site vantage, the officers will be a constant monitoring presence, so that players are not approached by unauthorized parties.
“Our CONCACAF Integrity Officer Program has been a great success,” said Dr. Laila Mintas, Director of Sports Integrity at CONCACAF. “Through our 25 INTERPOL certified CONCACAF Integrity Officers, we were able to provide Face-to-Face Trainings to more than 3.350 players, referees and officials across our region only during the last year. Now, with 44 CONCACAF Integrity Officers, we will be able to increase this already enormous number of individual trainings significantly.”
The CONCACAF Integrity Officer Program was established in May 2014 and has been a great success. Through the end of 2014, CONCACAF has addressed awareness and education training at more than 45 events and workshops across the region, connecting in a direct way with more than 3,350 individuals.
CONCACAF/INTERPOL/FIFA “Train the Trainer” Workshop
Miami, Florida, USA
April 21-23, 2015
Participants
Stacy Aguilar, USA
Emerson Ulises Avalos, El Salvador
Stevens Jose Bryce Valerio, Costa Rica
Hugo Atilio Carrillo, El Salvador
Jose Fabricio Chaves Chacon, Costa Rica
Andrew Cleeve Copeland, Jamaica
Sonia Denoncourt, USA
Margarita Echeverria, Costa Rica
Victor Hugo Estrada, Guatemala
Robert Finzi-Smith, Jamaica
Sergio Garcia, Guatemala
Victor Zenon Gomez Escobar, El Salvador
Joanne Nachio, USA
Eric Peters, Grenada
Theresa Pitcairn, Cayman Islands
Jose Jacinto Reyes Gatica, Nicaragua
Mark Steven Rodrigues, USA
Jacob Williams, USA
Alejandra Yepes, USA
