INTEGRITY AT STAKE: THE KOTAU CASE

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When Belarusian sports activist Anatol Kotau vanished in Turkey, it raised urgent questions not only about his safety but about the very integrity of global sport.

As inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions hes­i­tate, the silence under­scores a deep­er prob­lem: Who pro­tects those who defend the val­ues sport claims to stand for?

In his open­ing speech at Play the Game 2025, Play the Game’s inter­na­tion­al direc­tor Jens Sejer Ander­sen called for action and trans­paren­cy — and for renewed com­mit­ment to human rights and eth­i­cal prin­ci­ples in sport. Kotau’s dis­ap­pear­ance high­lights why ini­tia­tives like Clear­ingSport are vital to ensure that fair­ness, account­abil­i­ty, and integri­ty are upheld beyond nation­al and polit­i­cal bound­aries.

👉 Read the full speech and arti­cle on Play the Game: From whataboutism to uni­ver­sal stan­dards for sport and human rights: Mak­ing a case for Clear­ingSport