Kosovo NOC President Besim Hasani has signed up to stringent new ethical codes ©Getty Images

Besim Hasani, President of the Kosovo National Olympic Committee (KOS NOC), has pledged that his sports organisation will be the first from the Balkan region to implement the high integrity standards of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA).

His statement came as KOS NOC hosted the third SIGA Regional Summit on Sport Integrity and International Cooperation in Pristina.

This successful event brought together influential leaders in sport, government, law enforcement and civil society to address the most pressing governance challenges facing sport in the region.

Hasani undertook to implement the SIGA Universal Standards and go through the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System, commonly known as SIRVS.

Hasani commented: "The Kosovo National Olympic Committee has embraced Sport Integrity as a principle towards a more fulfilling life in and out of the field of play.

"We believe that the SIGA Regional Summit and SIGA's Universal Standards on Sport Integrity will bring a more solid base for the development of Sport and Good Governance.

"We will transform our advocacy on this issue to meaningful implementation when we become one of the pilot organisations to go through the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS) in 2020."

Kosovo's NOC signed up to the highest standards of sporting integrity while hosting the third SIGA Conference in Pristina ©KOS NOC
Kosovo's NOC signed up to the highest standards of sporting integrity while hosting the third SIGA Conference in Pristina ©KOS NOC

The pilot phase of SIRVS will kick off in January 2020, with a dozen sports organisations that will test the rating system managed by an independent third party, the British Standards Institution (BSI).

 SIRVS will perform the first ever independent assessment of sports organisations and rate their level of compliance with integrity standards.

This, in turn, will provide sponsors, governments and fans with the certainty that the sports they invest in and support are governed and operated under the highest standards of integrity,

The SIGA Universal Standards  Panel discussions focused on "Championing Integrity on the Field of Play", "Sports Integrity and Regional Cooperation – Walking the Talk", "Preventing Child Trafficking and Abuse in Sport" and "Gender Balance, Diversity and Inclusion in Sport".

One day prior to the SIGA Regional Summit, on International Anti-Corruption Day, SIGA launched its global campaign #SIGATalks to encourage the youth and athletes to "Speak Up for Sport Integrity" and take action against corruption.

This included a social media campaign and the active engagement from SIGA Champions, including Kosovo's Olympic judo champion Majlinda Kelmendi, professional women's basketballer and Olympic and Pan American Games medallist Kelly Santos Muller, legendary Olympic marathon champion Rosa Mota, MotoGP racer Miguel Oliveira, and Stacey Copeland, the first British woman to win a Commonwealth boxing title.