INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 11-24 July 2016

Last week, we gave the floor to lottery representatives to present perspectives on sports betting regulation and means to fight match-fixing. This week, in addition to the their speech, we have included a link to a video (below) as further explanation.

Specific emphasis was laid on one main contribution of the lottery community, e.g. their mutualised surveillance system to monitor suspicious and irregular betting, called GLMS (Global Lottery Monitoring System). We encourage you to find out more about GLMS with this 7 minutes video which sets the context within which this cooperation has developed and gives an insight of its objectives, operations, and value.

For the last two weeks of July, there have been match-fixing investigations and sentences given from various countries, including doping issues in Kenya, Romania, and Belarus as they gear up for the Olympic games. In addition, Operation SOGA made headlines last week as more than 4,100 people have been arrested and USD 13.6 million were seized during the two INTERPOL-led operations.

INVESTIGATIONS

South Korea

South Korean prosecutors have indicted two professional baseball players for allegedly manipulating games for gambling purposes. Prosecutors in Changwon city on Thursday said they believe NC Dinos starter Lee Tae Yang deliberately allowed first-inning walks and runs in two games last season after receiving 20 million won ($23,500) from a gambling broker, who has been arrested.

Moon Woo-ram, an outfielder competing in the Korea Baseball Organisation's second-tier competition, has also been indicted for allegedly receiving 10 million won ($A11,700) in cash and gifts from the broker for connecting him with Lee. South Korea's major professional sports leagues, including baseball, soccer and basketball, have been rocked by match-fixing scandals in recent years that have led to jail sentences and life-time bans of several players and coaches.

Source: "Korean baseballers in match-fixing probe", 21 July 2016, AAP, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/07/21/korean-baseballers-match-fixing-probe

SENTENCES/SANCTIONS

Italy

Marco Cecchinato, the Italian world number 143, has been banned from Tennis for 18 months and fined €40,000 for match-fixing. Cecchinato, part of the Italian Davis Cup squad just last weekend, is one of three Italian players to be banned, alongside Riccardo Accardi and Antonio Campo. The Italian federation has suspended Cecchinato until January 2018 for allegedly throwing his match against Kamil Majchrzak in the quarter finals of an ATP Challenger Event in Morocco last October. Also in 2015, he is alleged to have altered the outcome of a doubles match with Luca Vanni in Prostejov. The Italian tennis federation said: “Cecchinato has altered the results of his singles tennis match against Kamil Majchrzak at the ATP Challenger in Mohammedia in 2015, as well as his doubles match, played with Luca Vanni against Betov-Elgin, in the ATP Challenger in Prostejov, also in 2015."

Tuesday, 26 July 2016