ABOUT SIRVS
- The SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS) is an integral part of SIGA’s ecosystem to usher sport and the wider sporting industry into a new era of enhanced governance, integrity, transparency and accountability. In summary, SIRVS is the game changer that the sports industry needs!
- The purpose of SIRVS is to assess and rate the sports organisation’s level of implementation of and compliance with the SIGA Universal Standards.
- SIRVS is what the sponsors and those that invest in sport are demanding to give them the certainty that their investments are protected from the risk of reputational damage.
SIRVS insights!
- Interview with Katie Simmonds, Global COO, SIGA; and Frank Lee, SIRVS Technical Lead
What the Sponsors Say
“We’re living in a time where brand trust is so critical so, to me, SIRVS can really help drive that not only from a brand perspective but for the properties. What SIGA has done here has really created a standard, and it’s a standard that properties can strive towards, it allows them to look inside, identify areas that they can improve, and keep that improvement ongoing just like everyone needs to. On the brand side, it’s important because it becomes a reference point, it’s another criteria point that brands can lean on and look to when they’re making investment decisions.”
We want to work with companies, with brands who operate with the same level of transparency, that operate with integrity, have decency at their core, that have those similar values.
From my perspective, SIRVS is a great tool that can help you identify areas of improvement and it’s also a great way to show the good governance you’re already operating under. It’s a way to help those who are already operating appropriately to shine, so why not do it? It seems like a no-brainer!.
“The SIRVS is important to the sports industry because it gives customers, members, investors, and sponsors confidence in the organization that they’re investing or wanting to be a part of. To achieve SIRVS we undertook two and a half full days of auditing. The first day involved a deep look into the organization, spending time with the auditor, showing them our policies, showing how these are enacted, and discussing areas on the framework. The second day involved a wider group of stakeholders including our members, members of our board and staff, who helped to reinforce the fact that these policies and our procedures are in place. There was also a half-day focused purely on equality, diversity, and inclusion to ensure that the European Rugby League meets SIRVS robust standards for that area of framework.
SIRVS has been really valuable for the European Rugby League. It allowed us to understand what excellence looks like and given us the tools to spot gaps and to fill those gaps and to give our members confidence that the organization demonstrates the high standards of governance that SIGA through the SIRVS framework expects.
In terms of why we wanted an independent audit, I think that independence brings two major things to the table: firstly, it gives you reassurance as to what you’re doing well and obviously helps you to recognize that and keep progressing, but I think the most important point is that it helps you to spot gaps and identify improvements. Sometimes you recognize those gaps themselves but you need somebody else to set a standard for you and give you a bar to aim for, and sometimes either they’re in a blind spot or you don’t recognize that there are issues there so that’s the real benefit of having an independent organization having a look at things.”
“In 2023 we decided to join SIGA, we became a member of the organisation and we are working together on several projects.
Our main mission is to promote the sport of chess by organizing events for professionals, children, amateurs and seniors. We also promote chess as a tool for education and organize various social projects being active around the world.
The reason we joined SIGA is that with all the activities that we have we decided that is important to make a significant step to assess our activities and our policies, and to look for ways that we should improve. We want to make sure our chess projects and other projects with partners and our sponsors would be more effective and will be organized in the best possible way.
What is our plan with a cooperation with SIGA? We are currently completing the gap analysis for the good governance practices and are collecting all the documents; we hope to finish this process by the end of the year.
So far, the cooperation is running very well and very smoothly. For us to collect all the documents and all the policies and to assess our activities with the external auditors has been a challenge but we are very happy to proceed with it and to have some results and to be able to improve our activities. If you’re thinking whether to join this process I can, for sure, suggest this as a good solution for your organization.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
SIRVS stands for the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System. An initiative by the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), it’s the only independent rating and certification system in the sports industry to assess sports organisations’ internal processes and practices in accordance with an international set of Universal Standards on Sports Integrity developed by SIGA.
The SIGA Universal Standards is the best-in-class set of international standards developed by SIGA to enhance governance, integrity, transparency, and accountability within sports organisations to support their ongoing governance journeys and achieve excellence. SIGA developed Universal Standards on 4 core topics:
- Good Governance in Sport
- Financial Integrity in Sport
- Sports Betting Integrity
- Youth Development and Protection in Sport
The SIRVS audit is conducted by a member of SIGA’s independent audit team that have experience in delivering rating and certification in accordance with international standards and are trained in the criteria of the SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity and the SIRVS methodology.
The SIRVS audit is broken down into two audits over a period of 4 months and is designed to assess compliance with the criteria and measure the effectiveness of the sports organisations’ implementation of the criteria. For those sports organisations that don’t yet meet certain criteria, the auditors require a corrective action plan that is reviewed at a later date to support the organisations’ governance journey. The final audit report is reviewed by a second member of SIGA’s independent audit team by way of a quality check and presented to the sports organisation. SIGA issues the final certificate.
SIRVS offers three levels of certification: Bronze, Silver, equivalent to Good, Better and Best, respectively. Each level represents a progressively higher standard of adherence to the SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity.
Each level is cumulative, meaning that achieving the Silver certification requires meeting all Bronze criteria and additional Silver criteria. Similarly, the Gold certification requires compliance with all criteria set out for Bronze and Silver, along with its own set of rigorous benchmarks.
In August 2023, Liga Portugal has been awarded the Bronze Certification on Good Governance in Sport, becoming the first Professional Football League globally to undergo the SIRVS process and be independently assessed and rated against SIGA’s governance standards.
In 2021, the European Rugby League was the pioneering sports organisation to achieve SIRVS certification. The European Swimming Federation (LEN) and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) are currently going through SIGA’s independent gap assessment audit that is designed to provide an x-ray on a confidential basis to the sports organisation of where they are in terms of compliance with the SIGA Governance Standards as a precursor to SIRVS. This option is increasingly providing a popular initial audit tool. Several international sports organisations, including UEFA, IMMAF, and others have also publicly committed to going through the SIRVS process.
The SIRVS certification remains valid for three years with top up annual audits in years two and three to ensure ongoing adherence. Sports organisations’ certification may go up or down during the three years cycle.
With stakeholders increasingly demanding sport integrity, SIRVS serves as the sole independent tool that validates an organisation’s best practices in accordance with a set of internationally recognised standards specifically tailored for the sports industry. The SIRVS kitemark is a symbol of compliance to mitigate reputational risks from those that invest financially and by turn, their reputations in sport, including the sponsors, broadcasters, and fans.
SIRVS is a proactive way that sports organisations can demonstrate outwardly that they are committed to the values of Sport Integrity. Against a backdrop of increasing scandals in the industry, SIRVS is the action to show that your sports organisation is walking the talk when it comes to good governance in sport. Achieving SIRVS certification signals to stakeholders an organisation’s steadfast commitment to sport integrity as defined by the SIGA Universal Standards. This not only strengthens their credibility but also positions them as leaders in fostering the future of a trustworthy sport, according to fans’, sponsors’ and broadcasters trust and mitigates the risk of reputational damage.
The confidential gap analysis assessment audit is a tool developed by SIGA as a precursor to an organisation going through SIRVS to assess whether they meet the criteria. It involves a one day virtual or in person audit to identify areas within an organisation that may or may not yet meet the requirements of the SIGA Universal Standards on Sport Integrity and design a corrective action plan for sports organisations to implement in a 12 month period to get them match fit for the SIRVS audit. This assessment pinpoints specific gaps, enabling organisations to understand their current position relative to the Standards and informing them about necessary improvements to achieve certification.
Yes. Training plays a pivotal role and can be delivered at any stage of the SIRVS journey, including at the outset, after the gap analysis audit or post SIRVS. The training is designed to support the sports organisations’ understanding of specific criteria as often the standards are a new language for employees, and it is a chance to develop a deep level understanding of what the criteria means and how you can demonstrate compliance and implementation.
Organizations eager to be assessed against the SIGA Universal Standards through SIRVS should connect with SIGA for details on expressing their commitment and the subsequent application process.