The danger for sport post-COVID-19 with Sport Integrity Australia CEO David Sharpe

With Sport Integrity Australia opening to the public on July 1, new Chief Executive Officer David Sharpe talks about the dangers sports will face in the future in the latest episode of OnSide.

Sharpe admits there are a “lot of challenges ahead”, particularly in the current COVID-19 climate.

“If you took me back three or four months ago, I would have said the greatest threats in sport are organised crime infiltrating sport and vulnerabilities in sport,” Sharpe says, “but right at the moment I think the immediate threat that has been exposed is the fact that the COVID virus has led to an economic downturn in sport and staff have been reduced across education, integrity and welfare units and I think that really has exposed some major vulnerabilities across sporting bodies.”

He says the loss of structure in athletes’ day-to-day lives poses potential problems, too.

“Athletes and sporting bodies have very structured organisations; athletes are told when to arrive, when to sleep, when to eat, when to train, and what goes into their body, without that supervision on a day-to-day basis it really exposes them to vulnerabilities around making decisions that they don’t normally, or haven’t normally, had to make.

“From that, it opens up opportunities for organised crime to go in and exploit them and use that to their benefit in betting markets.”

Sport Integrity Australia will oversee integrity issues such as the manipulation of sporting competitions, use of drugs and doping methods, abuse, bullying, and discrimination in sport, however Sharpe says the organisation will not work alone.

Also on On Side, Steve Northey, our Assistant Director - Sport Operations, answers the question from the public about athletes being tested while overseas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Sport Integrity Australia opening to the public on July 1, new Chief Executive Officer David Sharpe talks about the dangers sports will face in the future in the latest episode of OnSide.

Sharpe admits there are a “lot of challenges ahead”, particularly in the current COVID-19 climate.

“If you took me back three or four months ago, I would have said the greatest threats in sport are organised crime infiltrating sport and vulnerabilities in sport,” Sharpe says, “but right at the moment I think the immediate threat that has been exposed is the fact that the COVID virus has led to an economic downturn in sport and staff have been reduced across education, integrity and welfare units and I think that really has exposed some major vulnerabilities across sporting bodies.”

He says the loss of structure in athletes’ day-to-day lives poses potential problems, too.

“Athletes and sporting bodies have very structured organisations; athletes are told when to arrive, when to sleep, when to eat, when to train, and what goes into their body, without that supervision on a day-to-day basis it really exposes them to vulnerabilities around making decisions that they don’t normally, or haven’t normally, had to make.

“From that, it opens up opportunities for organised crime to go in and exploit them and use that to their benefit in betting markets.”

Sport Integrity Australia will oversee integrity issues such as the manipulation of sporting competitions, use of drugs and doping methods, abuse, bullying, and discrimination in sport, however Sharpe says the organisation will not work alone.

Also on On Side, Steve Northey, our Assistant Director - Sport Operations, answers the question from the public about athletes being tested while overseas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.