MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/: Russia has put forward an idea of establishing a forum on international cooperation in countering corruption in sports under the United Nations’ auspices, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in a special column for TASS on occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day observed on Monday.
According to the diplomat, the anti-corruption fight in sports plays an important role both on the UN track and in other formats. In June 2018, Russia, which hosted the FIFA World Cup, arranged an international conference in Vienna on countering corruption in sports, the deputy minister recalled.
"This event has drawn a keen interest, and given the success of the first conference, we held the second such event in September 2019," Syromolotov said. "No doubt, Russia will not only continue focusing on this issue, but will also keep playing the most active role here."
"One of the ways of further developing international cooperation in countering corruption in sports that is being discussed now is Russia’s initiative on establishing under the UN auspices a special forum where the countries could hold an open and practical dialogue on harmonizing their approaches and efforts in this direction," Syromolotov stressed.
The diplomat noted that there have been ongoing attempts of politicizing multilateral dialogue on anti-corruption issues and using it for increasing political pressure on certain states. Russia has always supported the constructive nature of the Mechanism for the Review of Implementation of the Convention against Corruption, based on the principles of equality and respect for sovereignty of member states, transparency, impartiality and voluntary participation, he claimed.
The diplomat emphasized that Russia was open for "fair and mutually respectful work with all partners, including at multilateral platforms." "We are convinced that this approach is the most effective," Syromolotov stated.
