Former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Dick Pound has received the Play the Game Award for 2013, in recognition of “his uncompromising efforts in the fight for a cleaner and more democratic sports movement.” The Canadian, who is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, was a key part of the IOC’s clean up process since the Salt Lake City scandal - where there were allegations of bribery in the bidding process for the 2002 Winter Olympics - but is most famous for being one of the most outspoken critics of cycling during the Lance Armstrong era, and a constant thorn in the side of then International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid.
“I’d like to thank you all for this which is not one that I deserve,” said Pound. “I do believe, as many have said here, that sport has become so important that we in fact do face a crisis and that we should not wait until we hit the wall before we do something about it. Because once you hit the wall, you have no idea what sort of chaos will result and how long it takes to earn back a reputation that you’ve built up for many years.
“I, for my part, will try to encourage a more responsive participation from within the IOC because I think we should be here, not only to speak about what we think is important, but to hear what other people believe is important,” Pound added. “The combination, I think, will make for a better, more morally-based, ethically-based sports system in the world and we do need some guiding values these days.”
According to the organisation’s mission statement: “Play the Game is an international conference and communication initiative aiming to strengthen the ethical foundation of sport and promote democracy, transparency and freedom of expression in sport.”
The award “pays tribute to an individual or a group of persons who in their professional careers or as volunteers in sport have made an outstanding effort to strengthen the basic ethical values of sport.”
Since the Play the Game organisation is run by the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, the award was in the form of a work of art by Danish artist and former professional tennis player Torben Ulrich. Pound also receives an invitation to next year’s Play the Game conference as part of his prize.