The Football Association of Ireland and UEFA hosted a two-day integrity workshop in Dublin last weekend.

The event brought together the FAI, the Football Association of Wales, the Irish Football Association,  the Scottish Football Association and the English Football Association as an opportunity for all football bodies to share their best practice among things such as tackling illegal gambling, gambling addiction and bribery and how to keep integrity in the game of football.

Speakers included those from a broad spectrum of the sport, the gambling industry as well as An Garda Síochaná with each highlighting the hard work that ensures honesty in football.

Speaking at the event, FAI’s Head of Competitions Fran Gavin said: “There is a lot of synergy between ourselves, the IFA, the FAW, the SFA and the English FA with players and coaches moving around. So we thought why don’t we get together in one of our own areas and exchange information and bring people we know who we think can help those who are involved the game.

“We’re building relationship with those stakeholders and associations and learning from real-world information that is happening right now. We thank UEFA for helping us put on this event, without them it wouldn’t have happened.”

Johannes Marthinussen UEFA’s Integrity Data Analyst added: “It’s pivotal to have a workshop like this. A lot of the National Associations are facing the same problems and being able to come together and sharing our experience is very important. It was very good to see how the discussions benefited others in the room and how we can all learn from one another. It’s inspiring to be able to put this event together and be able to contribute.”