Sport is about more than performance. It is based on essential values:
fairness, respect and safety. Integrity in sport is a shared responsibility that aims to protect everyone involved in sport and prevent unacceptable behaviour that goes against these values.
On 1 April 2026, the Agence Luxembourgeoise Antidopage (ALAD) became the Agence Luxembourgeoise pour l’Intégrité dans le Sport (ALIS), marking an important new chapter for integrity in Luxembourg sport.
This transformation builds on ALAD’s longstanding commitment to clean sport, while expanding its missions to include safeguarding and the fight against competition manipulation. It is therefore not simply a change of name, but a broader approach to integrity and to the challenges facing sport today.
Integrity is about more than rules and procedures. Above all, it is about people: helping everyone involved in sport make informed decisions, protecting competitions, and ensuring an environment where everyone can participate and develop in safety and with respect.
Through its three missions; anti-doping, safeguarding and the fight against competition manipulation, ALIS contributes to clean, fair and safe sport for everyone.
Throughout their sporting journey, every athlete, coach, official, volunteer, parent and member of support staff will have to make decisions.
Some may seem simple. Others can have significant consequences.
Can I take this medication?
Am I allowed to bet on this competition?
What should I do if I witness inappropriate behaviour?
Where can I find support?
Education helps provide the answers.
It is also the pillar that connects ALIS’s three missions. It helps people better understand the issues involved, develop the right reflexes and contribute to a safer and more integrity-driven sporting environment.
Through workshops, awareness campaigns, presentations and educational resources, ALIS helps the sports community better understand its rights, responsibilities and the challenges related to integrity.
For Massimo Cristallo, Head of Education, the objective goes far beyond simply explaining the rules.
" Building a genuine culture of integrity in sport takes time and requires the commitment of the entire sporting community. Our role is to support athletes in understanding the rules, but also to provide organisations with the tools, expertise and support they need to integrate integrity into their day-to-day operations.
We encourage every federation, club and sports organisation to integrate integrity education as part of their annual programme and make it a regular part of the journey for athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers. Several federations are already leading the way. Our ambition is clear: to work together so that integrity education gradually becomes the norm in Luxembourg sport, rather than the exception.”
Anti-doping remains one of ALIS’s key missions.
As a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, ALIS continues to implement testing programmes, support athletes in understanding anti-doping rules, and provide education initiatives in accordance with international standards.
But Anti-doping is about more than testing.
Athletes regularly have questions regarding medications, supplements, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs). With the increasing professionalisation of sport, it is not always easy to navigate these issues.
For Guillaume Zekri, Head of Anti-Doping, the focus is always on protecting those who choose to compete fairly.
"Clean sport is about protecting athletes who choose to compete fairly. Our role is not only to enforce the rules but also to provide guidance and support so that athletes can focus on performing at their best."
For many people, sport is about much more than performance. It is where friendships are built, confidence grows and important life lessons are learned.
Everyone involved in sport deserves an environment where they feel safe, respected and valued. This is the purpose of safeguarding.
One of ALIS’s new missions, safeguarding aims to protect the positive values of sport. Through challenge, competition, teamwork and the pleasure of participating, sport helps people develop resilience, confidence and life skills. Safeguarding helps ensure these benefits are never undermined by abuse, violence, harassment or other forms of harm.
ALIS works alongside federations, clubs and sports organisations to strengthen safeguarding through common policies, education and practical guidance. The aim is not to add additional constraints, but to help organisations create safer and more inclusive sporting environments, where problems can be identified and addressed before they escalate.
For Lauren Crisp, Head of Safeguarding, sustainable progress requires a collective commitment:
" Everyone has the right to take part in sport in a safe and respectful environment, where they can grow, challenge themselves, learn and build their confidence. Violence, abuse and any other form of harmful behaviour have no place in sport, but unfortunately continue to affect too many participants. Safeguarding is a collective responsibility that requires the commitment of the entire sporting community. By exchanging ideas, sharing our experiences and working together, we can better protect participants and preserve the values that make sport a positive force in everyone’s life.”
Imagine watching a competition where the outcome has already been decided.
A large part of what makes sport exciting would immediately disappear.
One of sport’s greatest qualities is its unpredictability. No matter how experienced an athlete may be or how strong a team appears on paper, nothing is ever guaranteed.
Competition manipulation threatens exactly that.
Twenty years ago, a local sporting competition in Luxembourg simply remained local. Today, competitions can appear on betting platforms around the world with just a few clicks, often without athletes even knowing that bets are being placed on their performances.
As Loïc Hoscheit has pointed out, there is no reason to believe that Luxembourg is immune.
Competition manipulation can take different forms: influencing results or deliberately affecting specific moments within a competition in order to obtain a financial gain. This issue goes beyond sport and can be linked to organised crime, money laundering and international networks.
That is why ALIS works to raise awareness among athletes and sports organisations, encourage reporting and contribute to international efforts to protect the fairness of competitions.
Loïc Hoscheit emphasises what is truly at stake.
"Sport is built on uncertainty and fair competition. When those principles are compromised, everyone loses: athletes, clubs, supporters and the sporting community as a whole. Protecting the integrity of competitions means protecting what makes sport special."
Protecting sport also means speaking up when a situation seems inappropriate.
Whether it involves doping, competition manipulation, safeguarding concerns or other threats to integrity, ALIS provides a secure and confidential reporting platform for athletes, coaches, officials and the public.
By reporting concerns, everyone can play a role in protecting the values that make sport fair, safe and positive.
https://www.alis.lu/alis/effectuer-un-signalement/
ALIS – For a clean, fair and safe sport built on integrity and respect.
