Malta FA playing active role in IntegriBall ERASMUS+ project

The official launch of the new EU-funded, IntegriBall ERASMUS+, took place on 23rd of January 2020 in Brussels during the Project’s kick-off meeting. The meeting was hosted at UEFA’s Brussels’ office, as a supporting Partner of this new project which aims to educate on the dangers of match-fixing in football. The Malta Football Association is one of five national associations contributing to this initiative along with the Royal Belgian Football Association, Cyprus Football Association, Football Association of the Czech Republic and the Hellenic Football Federation. The “Integriball Grassroots and Women’s football” Project, which will run from January 2020 until December 2021, adopts a unique approach, developing and disseminating a comprehensive education programme focusing on protecting grassroots (U16-18) and women’s football players in Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece and Malta from threats of sport manipulation (match fixing) and other related sport-regulatory or criminal activities, in partnership with the respective dedicated football associations. The project is implemented by CSCF Foundation for Sport Integrity, who has run other successful projects including Integrisport ERASMUS+ targeting law enforcement and judiciary in investigating cases of sports manipulations. Integriball’s implementation will be further supported by partnerships with the sport integrity body of the global lottery sector, GLMS, with its strong expertise on sports betting and intelligence, as well as the renowned Ghent University playing a vital role in research activities. Partner organizations in particular will add further credibility to the project by contributing their network and expertise. All project partners concluded that addressing the integrity of young athletes at the very start of their sporting careers as well as raising awareness among female athletes of one of the fastest growing sports is a current priority; a priority that will definitely benefit from a multidisciplinary and transnational approach to tackling sports manipulations. With this approach, the project aims to help arm the involved football federations with effective tools and networks to effectively fight against sport manipulation and other sport integrity breaches. The “Integriball Grassroots and Women’s football” Project is officially supported in this fight by UEFA and Council of Europe.