Sport

What we do

Quest prides itself on an international sport network which is second to none. Coupled with its unique, independent, and discreet approach to integrity and investigations work, Quest is the market leader in conducting investigations into potential wrongdoing in sport, running standalone integrity units and advising on integrity issues in the context of campaigns or combatting online abuse.

Services

Investigations
  • Investigations for sports organisations into integrity violations – covering corruption, competition manipulation, abuse, doping and other ethical misconduct.
  • Proactive and intelligence-led investigations supported by sophisticated analysis, intelligence mapping, and robust law-enforcement-grounded investigation techniques, harnessing in-house expertise in covert investigations.
  • Highly-specialised bespoke suite of services which includes surveillance, evidence gathering, covert human intelligence, source development, enhanced due diligence and forensic analysis.
  • Established relationships with law enforcement, regulators and across the sports industry.
Integrity Units
  • Management of whistleblowing/reporting hotlines, enabling any concerned person connected to the sport to report unethical behaviour and any other form of wrongdoing, confidentially and anonymously.
  • Telephone, email, webform and app-based reporting, including methods for secure and confidential communication.
  • Preliminary assessment of cases for appropriate disciplinary, sporting or criminal investigation processes.
  • Case management using bespoke system to gather and link intelligence, and proactively manage external threat.
  • Disciplinary investigations into integrity violations in accordance with sport rules. See more here.
Combatting online abuse
  • Deployment of a Threat Matrix service alongside our technology partner Signify, to monitor and detect online abuse, identifying abusers and enforcing sanctions against perpetrators.
  • Technology partner Signify’s bespoke AI machine-learning technology flags abuse in real-time.
  • The combination of traditional investigation techniques, such as surveillance, infiltration and source development, along with the application of technology and the use of open-source material, ensures the highest rate of identification of abusers, debunking the myth that online abusers are anonymous
Integrity Management for Campaigns
  • Provision of independent scrutiny and oversight of election processes, bids and campaigns, particularly in the context of presidential and executive committee elections.
  • Voter Intelligence analysis and profiling of voting constituents, involving the development of an extensive intelligence platform.
  • Liaison with Ethics Committees, and other independent bodies within sports organisations and other sports stakeholders.
  • Enhanced vetting capability and due diligence of candidates for sports federations.
  • Project and campaign management, commercial strategy and communications support delivered through partner organisations.
Governance and International Relations Advisory
  • Organisational audits to assess the need for, and to develop, an appropriate integrity infrastructure to prevent malpractice.
  • Review of organisational structures, working practices and financial accounts to identify vulnerabilities, quantify compliance requirements, and create a risk mitigation strategy.
  • Development of integrity policies, procedures and processes.
  • International relations support for sports federation leaders to ensure productive and meaningful relationships with key sports industry stakeholders.
Global Sports Investigations (GSI) – Panel Enquiries and Legal Services
  • Establishment of terms of reference for governance or organisational reviews, working with our partners, The Sports Consultancy Legal.
  • Stakeholder consultation, project planning and budgeting.
  • Sourcing and appointing panel members and Counsel for enquiries.
  • Legal advisory services adjacent to investigations into ethical violations – e.g. prosecution of cases in sporting judicial structures or CAS.

Case studies

Quest was tasked by a high-profile individual running for the presidency of a major global sports body to provide integrity management for their campaign.

To protect our client’s campaign from any unethical activity, Quest employed a multi-faceted approach. Risk assessments produced country and individual risk profiles, which were used to mitigate the reputational threat our client faced in liaising with people and in travelling to countries on the campaign trail. Due diligence and covert investigations into nefarious approaches made to the campaign team were undertaken. These included surveillance,development of intelligence sources and computer forensics.A strong relationship with law enforcement agencies and ethics officers facilitated information sharing, which assisted in ongoing investigations and initiated new investigations int the matters we identified. In partnership with a PR agency we were able to protect our client’s reputation and ensure their integrity remained intact for the duration of the campaign.

Since 2018, Quest has operated the independent ethics office for the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS).

This includes operating a multi-lingual, 24/7, telephone, email and webportal whistleblowing hotline allowing the ski and snowboard community to report any form of wrongdoing. Quest’s sports integrity experts conduct a full assessment of the cases, recommending appropriate action. Often, an independent investigation into the facts of the case is required, with Quest making recommendations to FIS on what sanctions may be available in accordance with the FIS Universal Code of Ethics. Since inception, Quest has investigated and resolved issues spanning from safeguarding transgressions to competition manipulation, doping and other wider forms of institutional corruption. We also act as independent scrutineers during the FIS Congress and other high-level meetings. With Quest at the heart of their organisation, FIS is recognised as one of the leading international federations when it comes to governance and integrity.

For further information, please contact: sport@quest.co.uk