David Howman CNZM, Chair of the Board of Directors at Athletics Integrity Unit (World Athletics), was our guest speaker at the Rotary/Forsyth Barr business breakfast on 16 February.
David painted a depressing picture of organised crime impacting on international sports bodies.
Formerly the Director General of WADA, the Intertational Anti doping Agency, David is still involved giving legal advice to four international sports bodies even though he is now back living in Wellington. In previous years David was prominent in law in Wellington and serving on many sports bodies in a board capacity.
It was an eye opener to the large attendance to see the extent of organised crime as David put it with money taking over sport in many places, money laundering coming through sports betting, and cheating on the part of many world sports people, When asked by one person in the audience what was the greatest challenge he raised in his work as a sport barrister on the international scene and he said Russia, and being shot at.
For many of us reading about disgraced athletes and other sports people is one thing but in confidence being taken on a journey behind the scenes and seeing how crime is being played out was something different. His off the cuff stories about world figures in sport and where life is still today on the international scene was certainly a lot for our audience to take away.