Sport

Quest conducts proactive and intelligence led investigations into any form of wrongdoing, including corruption, conflicts of interest, internal grievances, illegal or irregular betting, doping, abuse, bullying, harassment, safeguarding transgressions and similar issues. Quest has a highly sensitive, bespoke suite of services which includes surveillance, covert human intelligence source development, enhanced due diligence and forensic analysis.

Part of the initial implementation of an independent integrity unit will require a review of relevant policies and procedures to verify that appropriate governance, safeguarding and integrity measures are in place to ensure the integrity of an organisation’s systems, athletes and competitions. This risk assessment will help to identify vulnerabilities, quantify compliance requirements and create a risk mitigation strategy from the outset, which will be underpinned by robust ongoing monitoring systems.

Upon setup of an integrity unit, often it will be useful to take a temperature check in relation to the amount of betting that takes place in a sport and associated risks that may arise in the sport. To achieve this, Quest has partnered with Genius Sports, who leverage decades of experience and understanding of the data that underpins sports betting to be able to identify risks from a sports betting perspective.

Sports organisations may wish to commission a research project in relation to a particular governance requirement, breaches of relevant rules, procedures or codes, or matters raised via the reporting hotline or otherwise. Quest also can also conduct background checks, vetting and intelligence landscape reports in relation to any subject.

Through Global Sports Investigations, Quest’s joint initiative with The Sports Consultancy, Quest is able to put together an expert panel when a systemic review of an organisation’s integrity setup is required. This service includes terms of reference framing, panel appointments, secretariat, communications, legal advisory, evidence gathering and implementation of recommendations.

Quest can provide integrity oversight of bidding processes, campaigns, elections, award of commercial and broadcasting rights, and voting systems to ensure that processes run in a smooth, effective and transparent manner. Similarly, Quest provides integrity overlay for individuals campaigning in sport-related elections in order to protect them from reputational risk.

Along with the operation of reporting hotlines comes the amalgamation and flow of a large amount of data that can be captured and analysed to ascertain where the greatest instances of integrity abuse occur so as to deploy resources effectively and proportionately within a client organisation. For all its integrity units, Quest maintains an intelligence database of reports, which includes generating methods of collecting information from a wider spectrum of resources, and organisation of this data into a user-friendly format.

Working with partner organisations and experts, Quest is equipped to manage communications fall-out of integrity abuses, reputational issues and other perceived integrity issues, including media outreach to help promote leading examples of integrity management.

Our investigators are experts in working with courts and disciplinary tribunals, and also through Global Sports Investigations, a joint initiative with The Sports Consultancy, we are equipped to assess cases and provide dispute resolution services, including when cases are referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Our experts are available to deliver expert training, seminars or other stakeholder engagement sessions in relation to integrity issues such as safeguarding or anti-corruption, which may take the form of an annual address to a General Assembly meeting, or tailored sessions with staff or athletes.

Quest offers a range of security services for major events including CCTV security camera installation and monitoring, Technical Surveillance Counter Measures and cyber security risk assessments. For more information on our security services, see here.