Lithuanian Sport University Forum focuses on prevention of manipulation of sport competitions

The 7th Lithuanian Sports Forum organised by the Lithuanian University of Sport took place in Kaunas on 23 October. The event focused on the problem of manipulation of sports competitions in the world and in Lithuania.
Corentin Segalen, representative of the French Gambling Supervisory Authority, head of the National Platform against Match-fixing and head of the Copenhagen Group (a platform for European countries to exchange information on potential match-fixing), gave an introductory presentation on the topic.
Mr Segalen presented the latest global statistics on possible match-fixing, the sports in which match-fixing is most frequently attempted. Football is the most frequently affected, followed closely by tennis and basketball. India, Israel and Vietnam are the countries with the highest incidence of manipulation.
He focused his presentation on the Copenhagen Group's guiding principles.
Mr Segalen also spoke about France's experience in avoiding manipulation and ensuring fair competition at last year's Paris Olympics. During the Games, representatives of 24 countries helped the hosts to monitor the integrity of sport.
The presentation was followed by a discussion on preventing manipulation. It was attended by C. Segalen, Laura Montvilaitė, athletes' representative (ombudsman), Saulius Ritter, Secretary General of the Lithuanian Rowing Federation, and Gintaras Staniulis, founder of the betting company "TopSport". The discussion was moderated by Kornelija Tiesnesytė, Advisor to the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency.
When discussing attempts to prevent manipulation in sport, the panellists stressed the importance of education, inter-institutional and cross-border cooperation, and the timely and expeditious exchange of information. It was stressed that the fight against manipulation attempts is not possible without the active involvement of public authorities, in particular law enforcement.
This is not the first time that the Lithuanian Sports Forum has focused on the integrity of sport and manipulation in sport. In 2023, it also discussed not only gambling manipulation, but also unfair treatment for better standings, technological manipulation, age manipulation.
In 2023, the Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency conducted a survey. 15% of respondents indicated that they had witnessed manipulation of sporting competitions in their immediate environment in the last 2-3 years.
LSU Forum recording 📌 https://youtu.be/SvgS9skzp60