Sport Integrity Australia’s INTERPOL secondment
In June 2022 our CEO, David Sharpe, visited INTERPOL to discuss the role of Sport Integrity Australia within the global law enforcement landscape. INTERPOL were particularly keen to find ways to better respond to ever-changing global criminal activity and were seeking assistance from key stakeholders. David saw an opportunity for Australia to support their Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) by offering to share our knowledge of sports corruption and doping.
Enter Jason Whybrow, Director of Sports Wagering and Competition Manipulation, Sport Integrity Australia.
As a result of David’s offer, Jason has spent the last three months in Lyon, France, working with INTERPOL in their General Secretariat. During his secondment he was able to meet with an array of professionals from around the world sharing the Sport Integrity Australia remit and how we operate.
“The story of our creation and the breadth and variety of world leading work we do as an organisation, continues to engage our global colleagues,” said Jason. “They all want to visit!”
“I spent a lot of my time speaking about global wagering on sport and its place in the broader gambling landscape, which everyone could relate to in regards to potential criminal influences.”
Jason’s visit allowed him to reinforce some key relationships on behalf of the agency bringing stronger communications across key areas of work.
“The IFCACC will be building their engagement and training with WADA on key Intelligence and Investigations training and the INTERPOL Match fixing Taskforce will be more reliant on us to develop the approach to major sporting events,” explained Jason.
“We will continue to build the partnerships through developing more formal links for information sharing and working towards showcasing the global threat environment to relevant governments and law enforcement agencies with strategic conferences and meetings to share knowledge.”
While in Lyon, Jason was able to get involved in some INTERPOL operational missions with agencies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Asian Racing Federation, where he spoke about the ever-evolving work coming out of Sport Integrity Australia.
“There were many virtual meetings with regional staff that continued late into the night,” said Jason, “Which of course we’re used to in Australia for international engagements.”
The recently established IFCACC has been successful in recovering more than US$200 million for victims of financial crimes in its first year of operations. This is good news but a small indent on the approximately US$2 trillion lost to scams and fraud.
The INTERPOL General Secretariat, where Jason spent his days, is staffed by about 950 people of which more than 300 are seconded to Lyon from their home countries, from police, intelligence and anti-corruption bodies, all of whom are funded by their home agency.
“It was a huge learning experience communicating effectively in everyone’s second language but a highly rewarding period of my life,” said Jason.
Jason returned from Lyon this month and will present and report on his secondment to Sport Integrity Australia staff and key stakeholders in the near future.
