Hohoe, Sept. 12, GNA - The Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee, (IOC) Thomas Bach has urged all sports organisations to introduce and comply with rules of ethics and principles of good governance.

Bach observed that sport's integrity, credibility and reputation are threatened by acts of doping, corruption and manipulation and therefore warned of serious repercussion of the game, if stringent measures were not deployed.

The Vice President made the remarks in his contribution to Play-the-Game's exclusive comment series on good governance and corruption in sport, a prelude to its global conference on Bringing change to the heart of sport", slated for October 3-6 in Cologne, Germany.

Bach, who is also President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, suggested that sports organizations refocus on protecting the integrity and credibility and reflect on the measures the IOC has taken to work against corruption, doping and other threats to development of sports.

He noted that the establishment and full application of rules on good governance and a zero tolerance policy against any kind of corruption and manipulation of sport competitions or in sport organisations are necessary in order to maintain and regain the credibility of sports.

The comment series leads up to the last day of Play the Game's upcoming conference, 3-6 October in Cologne that has been dedicated to discussions on how all stakeholders could bring change to the heart of sports by highlighting the need for concrete initiatives in the fight for more democracy and transparency in sports.

As part of measures to nourish the debates at the conference, Play the Game has mandated a number of sports personalities to present their personal views on measures to combat corruption in sports.

The conference would be attended by international experts on good governance, corruption and changing trends in sports from over 150 countries.