Awareness-raising and capacity building
The OM Unit PMC regularly organises meetings, seminars and workshops for a range of stakeholders (governments, international organisations, betting entities and the sports movement), as well as educational activities for athletes and sportspersons.
The aim is to raise awareness and educate, by fostering the sharing of best practices and discussing risk assessment analyses.
Activities, tools and resources to protect the integrity of sport and athletes have been created since the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 (recommendations 3 and 5). Examples include the Believe in Sport Code of Conduct and educational campaign, comprising a prevention of competition manipulation toolbox and an e-learning programme for athletes, entourage and officials; educational activities during the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games; and the IOC-INTERPOL capacity-building programme.
As per article 7.3 of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions, sports organisations are responsible for carrying out regular and continuous awareness-raising initiatives. As part of its work to support sports organisations in their efforts to comply with the aforementioned article of the Code, the OM Unit PMC has been supporting sports organisations with relevant tools and with organising, preparing and/or executing awareness-raising sessions for their athletes.
AWARENESS-RAISING AND EDUCATION
Believe in Sport
Believe in Sport is the IOC’s educational campaign that aims to ensure fair sporting competition by raising awareness and educating athletes on the risks and consequences of competition manipulation.
Contact believeinsport@olympic.org for awareness-raising support.
Athlete Ambassadors
The Athlete Ambassadors are active or retired athletes who are committed to raising awareness about competition manipulation among their fellow athletes and their entourages.
The OM Unit PMC runs two complementary ambassador programmes to ensure that athletes and support personnel across all sports and regions can benefit from these awareness-raising efforts.
The Global Network of PMC Ambassadors
PMC Ambassadors are athletes nominated by their International Federation (IF) or National Olympic Committee (NOC) to work directly with them in preventing competition manipulation.
Ambassadors are trained by the OM Unit PMC, starting with an initial online onboarding and followed by regular updates. The nominating organisation ensures that ambassadors remain actively engaged through initiatives at the sport or country level, with support from the OM Unit PMC available on demand.
Onboarding training sessions are held twice per year. NOCs and IFs will be kept informed about the training sessions calendar.
More information for ambassador candidates can be found here.
Currently, more than 50 Ambassadors are active across the 5 continents. IFs or NOCs interested in engaging an ambassador at their event, even if the ambassador is not specifically assigned to them but is already based on site, are encouraged to contact us at believeinsport@olympic.org
Believe in Sport Ambassadors
In addition to the Global Network, the Believe in Sport Ambassadors are a smaller group of athletes appointed and trained by the OM Unit PMC to support the IOC team directly during IOC activations, including the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games and major qualifying events.
Following the success of the six Believe in Sport Ambassadors at Paris 2024, the OM Unit PMC, with the support of their respective NOCs and IFs, has recently appointed a new group of ten ambassadors for the new Olympic cycle.
For more information, visit the Believe in Sport Ambassadors webpage on Athlete365.
Related news
On-site Activations
Pre-event awareness-raising and awareness-raising at events are a key component of the OM Unit PMC strategy. As part of the Believe in Sport campaign, the OM Unit PMC supports Olympic Movement stakeholders in planning and delivering a wide range of activities, from online initiatives like webinars for athletes and officials to onsite activations through a booth and engaging quizzes and games with the support of Athlete Ambassadors. Through interactives activities and quizes, athletes can reflect on the issue and better understand the code of conduct and how to prevent competition manipulation.
The OM Unit PMC team and ambassadors are present at all Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games with an awareness-raising booth. In Paris, around 4,000 athletes and entourage members were engaged in awareness-raising activities.
We do a lot of work in our country to inform the athletes in our own national language, however the level of awareness can continue to improve, and it's great to have this information booth on site in the Olympic Village.
On-site Activations: Road to Paris
During the Road to Paris, alongside many virtual initiatives such as delegation briefing webinars, the OM Unit PMC was also present in 2023 at continental events which were also Olympic Games qualifying events, in order to reach as many athletes and entourage members as possible.
I speak directly to athletes and entourage who may not realise manipulation or fixing can take place in their sport or that they could be targeted, no matter their sport or country," the taekwondo, kayak and cross-country skiing athlete told Olympics.com. "It is important for me that athletes receive this important education, similar to how they would be educated on doping, so that they know how to protect themselves, and what they can do to keep sport clean and fair.
Related news
Capacity Building
Capacity Building for OM stakeholders
The OM Unit PMC organises a wide range of capacity-building activities for the OM stakeholders, especially for International Federations and National Olympic Committees. These activities include general and tailored webinars, seminars, awareness raising support before and during events, together with targeted support whenever requested. Sharing of best awareness-raising and educational practices is encouraged and facilitated among OM stakeholders.
During the Paris 2024 Olympics, for the first time the OM Unit PMC included a capacity-building activities’ programme mainly targeting NOCs, comprising a series of sessions on specific matters, e.g. the role of NOCs in a national cooperation framework, working with national federations and leagues, working with national stakeholders, intelligence and investigations sessions, etc.
For more information, visit the Capacity Building for Olympic Movement Stakeholders page.
Capacity Building with INTERPOL and key intergovernmental organisations
The OM Unit PMC has partnered with the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), UNODC and the Council of Europe to deliver workshops, seminars, and webinars to empower NOCs, International and National Sports Federations, law enforcement agencies, government entities and betting regulators and operators to tackle and prevent competition manipulation and related corruption.
For more information, visit the page: Capacity building - the partnership with INTERPOL (olympics.com)