The Ministry of Sports announced the carrying out of intensive – planned and extraordinary – checks on federations, associations and unions, following a decision by Yannis Vroutsis.
As the Minister of Sports mentioned, the goal is the further domestication of sports. The announcement clarifies the steps that will be taken in this direction, with the checks starting immediately.
In detail, the announcement:
“By Decision of the Deputy Minister of Sports, Yannis Vroutsis, the terms and conditions of the procedure for carrying out the on-site inspections in Federations, Unions, Associations and sports events of them, in application of article 44 of Law 4809/2021 on the control of sports bodies.
“They are starting, for the first time, strong audit procedures for the observance of legality on the part of the sports community, by the Federations, Associations and Unions” underlines Mr. Vroutsis and emphasizes:
“By defining every detail of the framework of continuous on-site inspections by echelons of the Ministry of Sports, we will achieve with complete transparency the further housing throughout the sports edifice, which was and is the compass of our Government policy.
The universal digitization of the space and the other initiatives that are being prepared, in combination with the verification, through the controls, of the correctness and verification of the submitted data of the sports bodies, is another important step in the development of Sports in our country”.
According to the Decision, the 3-member Control Panels will consist of two employees of the Competitive Sports Directorate and one employee of the Sports Sector Financial Support Directorate of the Ministry of Sports, in order to ascertain
> the accuracy of the registrations of sports bodies in the electronic Register of Sports Bodies and in the electronic Register of Sports Associations,
> compliance with the obligations of the laws and
> the observance, during the official sports events, of the relevant announcements and regulations.
It should be noted that the on-site inspections do not replace any other administrative and financial inspection of the sports bodies, provided for in the applicable laws.
The on-site inspections, which can be carried out at any time and day throughout the year, are divided into scheduled and emergency.
Scheduled checks are carried out at the body’s headquarters or at the body’s training ground or at the matches of the controlled bodies and are divided into
> scheduled checks with notification of the agencies and
> scheduled checks without informing the agencies (surprise checks).
Extraordinary audits are carried out following complaints, information and well-founded suspicions of fraud, misconduct or administrative irregularities, which the services of the Ministry of Sports have decided need investigation, or at the request of other administrative bodies or after the order of the competent Prosecutor.
The objects/fields of the on-site audits will concern the administrative, sports and financial elements of the supervised sports bodies, as well as the procedure of conducting the official sports events.
The legality and regularity of their administrative action will be checked, based on objective control criteria, such as the observance of formal principles (laws, regulations, ministerial decisions, circulars, etc.), as well as the observance of the general principles governing good management.
The 3-member Control Panel will have the right of access to all areas of the sports bodies, will request the demonstration of the required relevant certificates, documents, permits, documents, as well as any other document or element, which is requested as necessary for the purpose of the control by the audited entities, who will have to provide the auditors with all the necessary data and facilitate them in every way in their work.
The non-display, during the audit, of the data, or the obstruction of the audit due to the behavior of the audited entities, will be recorded and will result in sanctions.
Appropriate audit forms will be used to record and capture audit observations and comments.
Upon completion of the on-site audit, the Auditors and the representative(s) of the union, or of another person connected to the union – and attending the audit – jointly sign the Audit Certification document.
After the completion of the on-site audit, an Audit Results Report is drawn up within 10 days and a copy of it is immediately communicated to the audited sports organization.
The audit will be divided into:
* Positive, after establishing the accuracy and correctness of the checked data,
* Positive, with highlights/observations,
* Negative, subject to the provision of additional and correct information,
* Negative.
Audited entities will have the right to submit written objections to the Audit Results Report within 15 days of its receipt.
In cases where the conducted audit reveals the submission of false information or inaccurate entries in the electronic Registers, or non-compliance with the obligations of law 2725/1999, as well as non-observance, during official sports events, of the relevant notices and of the regulations, the sports organization will be subject to sanctions, as they arise from the legal consequences provided for in the sports legislation.
Indicative and not limiting, the process of disqualification of a member or members of the administration of the sports organization will be initiated, the Special Sports Recognition will be revoked, the benefits and privileges to distinguished athletes will be revoked, the regular grant will be suspended, it will be deleted from the electronic Registers” .
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