WBSC Integrity Unit, in collaboration with the IOC, hosts webinars on the Prevention of Competition Manipulation
The two sessions happened on 25 and 30 November. The presentation will be available on the WBSC Integrity Unit webpage.
As part of the World Baseball Softball Confederation's (WBSC) continued upskilling of athletes, officials and staff about the latest trends and topics surrounding international sport, the WBSC Integrity Unit organised, in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a two-part series of webinars about competition manipulation.
The educational webinars took place on 25 November for officials and staff before the webinar for athletes was held on 30 November.
The sessions opened with the concept of competition manipulation and match-fixing while offering an overview of the associated risks and the possible sanctions.
Key takeaways included that competition manipulation is a threat to the very basis of sports since it artificially removes the fundamental property of sports competition. It occurs when a participant in a sports competition, either an athlete, a coach or an official (an umpire or a scorer in baseball/softball), knowingly underperforms or deliberately makes bad or wrong decisions affecting the result to obtain an undue benefit.
The participants became familiar with the four key rules in the code of conduct: don't bet, don't fix, don't share inside information, always report with Prevention of Competition Manipulation Ambassadors sharing their own personal stories.
Both webinars saw excellent participation from across the WBSC's five Continental Associations with a total of 120 officials and staff members participating in the first session, and 233 athletes participating in the second session.
