David Sharpe is stepping down as Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) chief executive, saying the organisation has achieved much in the four years since inception.

Sharpe was appointed as the inaugural SIA chief executive in June 2020, with the organisation replacing the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

SIA also brought under its umbrella all other sporting integrity matters.

A former Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner and rugby league player, Sharpe had been ASADA boss since 2017.

Sharpe said sport had come a long way in Australia since SIA’s inception, highlighting the establishment of a national integrity framework for all sport.

“I have always said that in order to protect sport, we had to work together and the national integrity framework is proof of that,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a message to SIA staff, Sharpe was grateful for “the passion and commitment you bring to your roles each and every day”.

“You can be very proud of what we have achieved together to protect vulnerable people in sport, none more notable than building and implementing a national integrity framework,” he said.

Sharpe will finish in the role on August 2 this year, in the middle of the Paris Olympics, with an interim chief executive to be appointed.

SIA, a federal government agency, was given greater powers under legislative changes when created, enabling the pursuit of what Sharpe has described as “facilitators” of corruption, from those supplying prohibited substances to organised crime.

AAP