First INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 14 - 20 March 2016

It is our pleasure to introduce the first Bi-Weekly Bulletin of INTERPOL’s Crimes in Sport Team, which replaces the previous Weekly Media Recap.

Pursuant to the recent re-structuring, INTERPOL have created the Crimes in Sport Team, comprising of Integrity in Sport Unit, INTERPOL Match-Fixing Task Force (IMFTF), as well as the Anti-Doping Unit, with a view to providing a one-stop service to our member countries and synergizing our efforts to tackle crimes that jeopardize the integrity in sport.

You can refer to our new webpage at https://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Crimes-in-sport/Integrity-in-sport.

As a result, the new Bi-weekly Bulletin has been introduced which will provide a more comprehensive coverage on different aspects of crimes in sport, including development on: competition manipulation (or match-fixing), doping, INTERPOL events, feedbacks and contributions from member countries, stakeholders and partners.

To start the first Bi-Weekly Bulletin, which will cover only one week this time, there is a welcome note from Mrs. Roraima A. Andriani, Director for Organized and Emerging Crime, INTERPOL General Secretariat.

The Bi-Weekly Bulletin will be circulated every alternative Monday and the next one will be on 4 April 2016. Submissions on best practices, major developments, new trends, relevant articles from all our partners, to be published on the Bulletin will be welcome.

THE FLOOR TO...

Roraima Ana ANDRIANI, INTERPOL Director for Organized and Emerging Crime

It is a pleasure to introduce the first Bi-Weekly Bulletin of INTERPOL’s Integrity in Sport Unit. When asked to be the first to ‘have the floor’ and introduce this important publication, I accepted without hesitation for two major and simple reasons: I believe in sports and I believe in INTERPOL. Sports are one of the best means to reach all sectors of society regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, age or status. What do sports represent for you? To me, sports means diversity, respect, solidarity and hard work. It requires integrity, preparing, practicing and teamwork to motivate oneself and others to strive for excellence, even when against all odds As you are reading this, you may recognize that these values parallel police values and ethics. Many of the above principles are common to sports, policing and INTERPOL. In fact, one of the fundamental aspects of INTERPOL’s Constitution, Article 3, establishes that it is forbidden for the Organization to “undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character”, hence, underscoring the importance of neutrality and fairness. This Bulletin, in lieu of the former Weekly Media Recap, will include information on doping, corruption and other criminal phenomena which threaten the integrity of sports. It will keep you updated with the trends on match fixing and doping investigations, modus operandi, good practices and legal requirements worldwide. I trust that our efforts of updating you about the challenges of match-fixing and corruption in sports will be valuable. Going forward, for future editions of this Bulletin, we welcome submissions from our partners. If you would like to have an article or other relevant item of information included in an upcoming Bulletin, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. In closing, I extend congratulations to my staff for this initiative as well as their ongoing efforts to raise awareness and share information amongst all stakeholders of the threats to the integrity of all sports. Thank you for partnering with INTERPOL in creating a strong network for fairness in sports.

INVESTIGATIONS

Italy

An Italian prosecutor has told the BBC that more than two dozen leading players should face investigation over links to betting rings. Roberto di Martino told the BBC and BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that their names have appeared in evidence seized from gamblers suspected of fixing matches. They include two players who have been ranked in the world's top 20. So far, only Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali, two Italians, have been investigated and charged but Di Martino says others should be investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), the sport's anti-corruption watchdog. "Surely if these foreign players were Italian, they would certainly have been at least questioned," Di Martino said. "They should have provided some explanations." He added: "Interestingly, they are not so-called second-tier tennis players, but also players of some importance." Di Martino has been conducting a two-year inquiry into a suspected match-fixing ring involving Italian tennis players and gamblers. However, the London-based TIU, which has come under fire in recent months, issued a statement later Tuesday insisting an investigation into Bracciali and Starace was ongoing and that information received from Di Martino was being assessed. "The Tennis Integrity Unit, supported by the governing bodies of tennis, strongly refutes any suggestion made by the Public Prosecutor in Cremona, Italy, that evidence of match fixing in tennis has been ignored by the TIU," read the statement. "The TIU had been endeavouring to obtain the evidence required to substantiate allegations made against Italian players Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace from the Prosecutor's office since October 2014." "The TIU had to engage legal counsel in Italy to obtain the information contained in Mr Di Martino's investigation and is now listed as an Injured Party in the ongoing criminal proceedings." "All information received from the Public Prosecutor is being fully and thoroughly assessed, verified and, where appropriate, investigated under the powers of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program”.

Source: AP, "Italian prosecutor calls for match-fixing probe into 'top players'", 16 March 2016, Ten Sport, https://tenplay.com.au/news/2016/03/16/italian-prosecutor-calls-for-match-fixing-probe-into-top-players

South Africa

PSL soccer players to appear before disciplinary committee for alleged match-fixing. Football players of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) suspected of involvement in match-fixing will appear before the league’s disciplinary committee on 30 March. Without naming those suspected of involvement, the league said it took the allegations ‘very seriously and will not leave a stone unturned in its quest to get to the bottom of the issue’. In a statement, the league said it had been provided with information which alleges that certain players and officials registered with the league have been involved in match-fixing and corruption. “We take these allegations very seriously and, as a result, we have pressed charges against those named in the information provided to us,” it said in the statement. The PSL said it had all the confidence in its processes to arrive at a decision in an expeditious and effective manner. The league was not in a position to comment any further on the matter at this stage.

Source: AP, "PSL soccer players to appear before disciplinary committee for alleged match-fixing", 18 March 2016, Alex News, https://alexnews.co.za/73251/psl-soccer-players-to-appear-before-disciplinary-committee-for-alleged-match-fixing/

SENTENCES/SANCTIONS

South Africa

Three former officials of the South African Football Association have been banned from the sport in connection with international friendlies played by the national side in 2010, the world governing body FIFA said. Leslie Sedibe, a former SAFA chief executive, was banned for five years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs (£14,000) by FIFA’s Ethics Committee. Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of the SAFA’s refereeing department, were each banned for two years. The cases were linked to that of the former SAFA executive member and head of referees Lindile Kika, who was banned for six years by Fifa last October. FIFA said that Sedibe, Goddard and Carelse had all infringed ethics rules concerning general rules of conduct, loyalty and disclosure, cooperation and reporting. The investigations were conducted by FIFA’s Ethics Committee along with the security division, which is responsible for fighting match-fixing. A previous FIFA investigation had looked into warm-up matches that South Africa played against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala in May 2010 ahead of the World Cup, which South Africa was hosting.

Source: AP, "Fifa bans three South African officials over pre-World Cup friendlies ", 14 March 2016, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/14/three-south-african-officals-banned-fifa-world-cup-friendlies

Tuesday, 22 March 2016