Customs intelligence report, obtained exclusively by the Herald, reveals ‘insider threats’ grow as organised crime gangs expand in New Zealand. Video / Ben Dickens / Michael Morrah
Rebecca Rolls represented NZ in both cricket and football. She now leads our Sport Integrity Commission.
Rolls is also a former detective and Serious Fraud Office investigator.
Labelling of supplements in NZ needs work, she says: some elite Kiwi teams batch-test them to ensure they’re free of banned substances.
She recommends high standards for sports clubs, including boundaries around one-on-one messaging between coaches and young people.
Social media – an increasing source of pressure and public abuse for elite athletes and match officials – was yet to be invented, including Facebook, which was a decadeaway from launch when she played her first Football Ferns international in 1994.
Some sports supplements available in New Zealand contain ingredients on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list, Rebecca Rolls told the Herald.
Illustration / Paul Slater
The term ‘organised crime’ was largely kept for the mafia, and South American drug cartels; organisations that at the time were not looking to corrupt the integrity of sport in countries like New Zealand.
Drugs in sport wasn’t a major issue in this country, aside from the occasional player testing positive for recreational cannabis.
The headlines here around performance-enhancing drugs related to overseas track and field stars having medals or world records stripped after positive tests.
Sports supplements were almost scoffed at; now they’re a sports fashion trend - but not a welcome one, according to the Sport Integrity Commission Te Kahu Raunui (SIC)
That’s the Government body trying to protect integrity of sports in New Zealand, led by chief executive Rebecca Rolls, who describes some supplements as “downright dangerous”.
The Sport Integrity Commission, headed by Rebecca Rolls (inset), is charged with safeguarding all levels of New Zealand sport. Composite Photo / 123rf and NZ Herald
And with a lot of New Zealand sport operating under amateur or semi-professional rules in those days, the financial stakes were low. A form slump or minor injury wasn’t going to cause much pain in the pocket.
“I can’t imagine having the sporting career I did in [the age of] social media,” Rolls told the Herald.
“[It’s] such an added factor for athletes these days and particularly female athletes ... referees as well.”
Rolls doesn’t just mean online abuse.
The age of social media has created headaches for players and match officials regardless of the level of sport they're involved in. Photo / NZME
Sporting teens on Instagram faced “huge” pressure from the avalanche of content about fitness, image and eating.
“You don’t have to look too far for research on that,” Rolls said.
Pictures and video - flattering or otherwise – can be shared online within seconds leading to bullying or the sexualisation of athletes; something the commission is trying to prevent by educating sports clubs and offering guidelines.
“It’s important people know about sharing images for example. When is it appropriate to take a photo?” Rolls said.
Rebecca Rolls, playing here for Auckland during her top-level cricket career, says she played sport during a less complicated time away from the pitch. Photo / Greg Bowker
Direct messaging between coaches and young athletes could also have its pitfalls, Rolls said.
Under the commission’s voluntary Code of Integrity for Sport and Recreation, launched in March, one-on-one interactions are singled out.
Sports bodies and clubs are encouraged to set boundaries over what sort of contact is and is not allowed between officials and coaches, and young athletes.
Sports organisations need to set high standards, she said.
“It is about keeping kids and vulnerable people safe, but also keeping volunteers and parents and coaches ... safe as well,” Rolls said.
Drugs and corruption
Rolls is not scaremongering when it comes to the potential perils of modern sport.
Drugs and corruption are growing in New Zealand and sport is not immune.
Former Black Caps have told cricket officials of approaches from would-be match-fixers.
Former Black Cap Lou Vincent was handed a life ban in 2014 by the International Cricket Council for his role in match-fixing; a ban that was reduced to allow involvement at club and domestic levels nine years later.
Former Black Caps player Lou Vincent is proof Kiwi sports people are not immune to being involved in match fixing. Photo / Paul Taylor
One of the roles of the commission – which has the mandate to ensure everyone involved in sport in New Zealand is safe, fairly treated, and free of doping and corruption – is being the country’s sporting anti-doping organisation.
Among drug code breaches detailed on its website in the past year are:
A Dunedin club rugby player who imported a banned anabolic steroid
A Marlborough rugby player who imported peptides
A “recreational rugby player” who imported a trio of banned drugs including one that boosts human growth hormone
An archer who used a banned substance while competing
And a weight-lifter who self-medicated during competition.
New Zealand long distance runner Zane Robertson was handed a ban after being outed as a drug cheat. Photo / Greg Bowker
Rolls told the Herald: “The pressure to succeed, get that contract or stand out to that scout at your high school game, is [affecting] people who are much, much younger.
The rise and rise of sports supplements
Some of the sports supplements available online and in shops in New Zealand contain ingredients on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) banned list.
Rolls said this was one of the biggest issues the commission was seeing.
The recently-published and peer-reviewed Drug Testing and Analysis study that looked at 200 products available in Australia - revealed one in three supplements there contained substances banned in sport.
Some people involved in lower-level sports are taking performance-enhancing drugs to get an edge. Photo / File
Almost 60% of the supplements containing banned substances failed to list their presence on product labels.
“Young people, anyone really, might not be intentionally doping. But ... it is getting more and more risky for them,” Rolls said.
Research that extensive on the supplement industry in New Zealand is yet to be carried out, but a smaller study by Consumer NZ in 2022 found six products aimed at sportspeople and for sale at supplement stores contained illegal drugs.
Rolls said the commission publishes a list of WADA’s banned list, but even that can’t protect athletes from unintentional doping when some ingredients might not be listed on product labels.
Some sports supplements have been found to contain ingredients which are banned by sports officials. Photo / File
Some elite national teams had moved towards batch-testing their supplement supply, and then just circulating safe product from the approved batch to their athletes.
Rolls said other national representatives “very vigilant about what goes into their bodies” locked their food away while travelling.
“They take precautions just to make sure that nothing gets into the body that they don’t know about.”
It was a world away from when Rolls first made the Football Ferns when “you come off the field and the first thing you do is be handed a paper cup with a blue liquid, [that] you’re pretty sure is Powerade”.
“We see the risk increasing”
Rolls recently talked to the Herald about the increasing risk of money laundering from organised crime syndicates moving into sports.
Match manipulation isn't restricted to just fixing a result; it can also see a player agree to commit a serious offence at a certain time in a game. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It’s not just athletes who could be approached by criminal-associated betting syndicates - even family members could be approached by gamblers wanting sensitive team information.
“It is the sharing of inside information,” Rolls said.
“If you have got information on injuries for example ... because you are related to someone.”
Organised crime bosses overseas have gained ownership of sports clubs and franchises in order to launder their proceeds of crimes.
Sports and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell was briefed on potential perils facing New Zealand sport by the Sport Integrity Mission earlier this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Match manipulation was among the risks pointed out to incoming Sports and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell in a briefing document he received from the commission in January.
“We see the risk increasing” Rolls said.
“We are already having discussions with some of our counterparts overseas.”
The Sport Integrity Commission fears organised crime groups could look to launder money in the sporting scene here, like they do overseas. Photo / Greg Bowker
The commission has already engaged with the Global Network of National Sport Integrity Agencies working group, Sport Integrity Australia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Interpol about safeguarding the integrity of New Zealand sport.
Rebecca Rolls’ elite sports history
In many ways Rolls is the perfect person to head the Sport Integrity Commission.
Her sporting pedigree gives her a first-hand knowledge of the New Zealand sports scene, as well as the pressures and expectations our sporting high-fliers face.
Rebecca Rolls during her time in camp with the Football Ferns before departing for the 2012 Olympics in London. Photo / Getty Images
Then there’s her workplace expertise: Rolls was a serving police officer during her time with the Football Ferns and White Ferns, rising to the rank of detective.
After her police career – which spanned more than a decade – Rolls worked at the Ministry of Health as a senior investigator, before joining the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) including the role of general manager of investigations.
Rolls then worked at Corrections as general manager, audit, integrity and risk, before being hired at Sport New Zealand as its diversity and inclusion manager in mid-2021.
Rebecca Rolls, appealing for a wicket, is one of the White Ferns' greatest players. Photo / NZME
“I feel like I have done the full journey a little bit,” she said of her career outside sport.
Rolls said it was now “really rewarding” to be chief executive of the commission charged with upholding integrity of sport in New Zealand.
The commission was created after numerous reviews into different sports in New Zealand that Rolls said culminated in the message that “people wanted something independent of their sport and they want their experiences to be safer and fairer”.
The independent body is unique in that it covers sport from grassroots right up to elite level.
Rebecca Rolls' work career has previously see her serve as Corrections' general manager, audit, integrity and risk. Photo / File
“Sport and recreation aren’t what you do for a job necessarily,” Rolls said. “It is important that people aren’t harmed from choosing to do something fun.
“It’s important people have confidence they can walk into an environment and not leave themselves at the door because they don’t feel included, and make sure they can do it safely and fairly, and they’re confident to speak up if something is wrong.”
In March, the commission launched the Code of Integrity for Sport and Recreation, a 42-page document designed to ensure sport and recreation are safe and fair for everyone.
The code sets minimum standards for clubs, provinces and national bodies and is voluntary to sign up to.
Rolls hoped it would be a powerful tool for the sporting community.
“I would love for heaps of Kiwi kids to be able to experience what I did”
Sport has given a lot to Rolls’ life, and vice versa.
She has a sporting CV to envy; proudly wearing the shirts of two of our most-loved national women’s teams.
Rolls holds dear precious memories of her time wearing the silver fern.
Career highlights include playing in two Olympic Games and a World Cup with the Football Ferns.
Rebecca Rolls #21 of New Zealand walks towards the pitch before the Fifa Women's World Cup 2015 Group A match between New Zealand and the Netherlands. Photo / Getty Images
She was a crucial part of the White Ferns team that won the Cricket World Cup on home soil in 2000.
“That was pretty epic,” she says of being part of the White Ferns’ sole 50-over World Cup triumph to date.
“The team that we had on that day in 2000 is probably one of the best cricket teams I have seen.”
Rolls made her Football Ferns debut in 1994, three years before breaking into the White Ferns.
Former White Ferns and Football Ferns representative Rebecca Rolls heads the Sport Integrity Commission which is tasked with safeguarding New Zealand Sport. Photo / Supplied and NZME
By 1998, after joining New Zealand Police and with her cricketing career taking off, she made the decision to step away from international football.
But in one of New Zealand sport’s most notable careers, she made a sensational return to the Football Ferns; going on to play at two Olympic Games (London 2012 and Rio 2016), as well as the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Former dual sporting international Rebecca Rolls hopes sport can give other kids what it provided for her. Photo / 123rf
Rolls’ pride in representing her country at the highest level will never dissipate.
Neither will her thanks to her supportive family who encouraged her to chase her sporting dreams.
Now, ensuring as many Kiwi kids get to enjoy their chosen sports – regardless of the level – is one of her driving forces as she works tirelessly to protect the integrity of sport in New Zealand.
“I would love for heaps of Kiwi kids to be able to experience what I did because I think it is pretty special,” Rolls said.
“I have got two nieces who play sport, and they love it. If they take it somewhere cool, if they don’t, equally cool. But coming back to the opportunity’s thing, it is [about ensuring] as many kids as possible have that opportunity and we will all be better off.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
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