UAE, 28 February 2023- The UAE, represented by the General Authority of Sports, participated in the Global Ministerial Forum on Sport Values, Ethics and Integrity held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recently, to contribute to encouraging moral and ethical values in sports and promoting transparent and distinguished sportsmanship. The conference was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal Al-Saud, Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, representatives from UNESCO, sports ministers from around the world, as well as several leading experts and figures in the global sports industry.

H.E. Saeed Abdul Ghaffar, Secretary General of the General Authority of Sports, participated in this conference which was launched as part of the Conference of the Parties held at the UNESCO headquarters in 2019. The conference aims to enhance sports integrity, ethics, and values as well as promote fair and honest competition across all the sports fields around the world.

H.E. Saeed Abdul Ghaffar emphasised the Saudi-Emirati interdependence across several fields, reaffirming that the participation in this conference comes within the framework of reinforcing the strategic ties between the two countries. He stated: “The conference serves as an ideal platform to highlight the most significant global developments, as well as identify various means to promote a favourable sports environment for individuals. The guiding principles of this conference, which aims to foster excellence, raise the quality of life, and ensure the provision of a sustainable sports environment based on governance and integrity, are in line with the visions and directives of our wise leadership.”  

He added: “With the launch of the Sports Federations Governance Guide in 2021, the UAE currently strives to achieve greater strides in improving sports governance. In addition to achievements and fruitful partnerships, governance is a significant pillar to the sports sector in the UAE. Collaborations within the sports sector largely contribute to improving the work environment by exchanging best experiences and practices with strategic partners. This has been a major topic for the discussions held at the conference.”

In addition to hosting several discussions and workshops, the conference also held several exhibitions which were attended by 16 organisations. These exhibitions focused on dealing with the legal procedures, governance in sports-related international crimes, the role of sports authorities around the world in enhancing sports integrity and governance, safeguarding sports from corruption, as well as highlighting important developments in the field of sports integrity.

The Global Ministerial Forum on Sports values, Ethics, and Integrity aims to promote moral and ethical values in sports, paving way for fair and honest competition across all the fields related to sports. It also aims to enhance the shared visions among the participating countries and organisations, thereby enhancing the global sports ecosystem. The conference further works to ensure fair competition in a variety of competitions at the local, regional, continental, and international levels.

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