The Integrity Task Force established by FIFA to monitor the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament held its first meeting at the Home of FIFA in Zurich in preparation for football’s showpiece event due to kick off on November 20 in Qatar.
The establishment of the task force is in line with FIFA’s core objective of safeguarding and promoting the integrity of football across all its competitions, and it follows similar initiatives implemented within the scope of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019.
With the support of the task force, FIFA will for the first time monitor both the betting markets and in-game action in real time at every World Cup match.
To ensure experienced, coordinated and timely handling of integrity matters during the FIFA World Cup, FIFA has joined forces with key organisations, including the Qatar Safety & Security Operations Committee, the Council of Europe and its Group of Copenhagen, INTERPOL, the Global Lottery Monitoring System, Sportradar and the International Betting Integrity Association.
Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the principal law enforcement and investigative service of the United States will be joining the group to contribute with its experience and expertise, also in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament.
Furthermore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with whom FIFA signed a landmark cooperation agreement in 2020, joins the task force for the first time.
In addition to the setting up of the Integrity Task Force, FIFA will organise workshops in the coming weeks with the integrity officers of all 32 participating member associations, as well as with the appointed referees.
Already in 2019, FIFA reached a key milestone in its endeavours to protect the integrity of the game as the task force established for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 was highlighted as an example of best practice in a leading report submitted to the Council of Europe’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media by the member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Roland Rino Büchel (Switzerland). The document acknowledged the sound work performed by an “unprecedented number of stakeholders.” – FIFA.com
