The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) CEO David Sharpe says he is honoured to be appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) which opens on July 1.
“I am enormously honoured to be appointed as the inaugural CEO of Sport Integrity Australia and I would like to thank the Government and Minister Richard Colbeck for having faith in me to do the job,” Mr Sharpe says.
A former Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Mr Sharpe says the creation of SIA will bring together key stakeholders such as National Sporting Organisations, athletes and agencies as well as sports integrity capabilities around the world to ensure every base is covered.
“Together, as a team, we are powerful. We can put a protective, ethical ring around sport to protect it from those seeking to corrupt or exploit the vulnerable for their own gain,” Mr Sharpe says.
“This is an opportunity to share and learn from each other because, after all, we are all here to protect sport.”
Whether it is state sponsored doping, infiltration of sport by organised crime or corruption in sport, Mr Sharpe says threats to the integrity of sport can emerge from many sources.
“In these unsettled times as sport collectively deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever, sport requires certainty, fairness and leadership.”
Reaching this point could not have been possible without the collaboration of ASADA, the National Integrity in Sport Unit (NISU), Sport Australia and the Department of Health, he says.
“There is a lot of work to be done, but we are on the right track guided by the recommendations of the Wood Review.”
The appointment, announced earlier today by the Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck, is part of the Government’s commitment to the Review of Australia’s Sports Integrity Arrangements (Wood Review) recommendation to establish a cohesive sports integrity capability along with the National Sports Tribunal.
“I would also like to put on the record the Government’s commitment to ensuring SIA has the resources to not only be operational but has the capabilities to collaborate with others to get the job done,” Mr Sharpe says.
