INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 13-26 June 2016
This week we give the floor to Kevin Carpenter, Principal & Consultant of Captivate Legal & Sports Solutions as he discusses how to best tackle match-fixing.
For the last two weeks of June, there have been a variety of issues ranging from match-fixing allegations in Ghana and Uganda to doping arrests made in Spain. Additionally, a anti-doping testing lab in Rio has been suspended by the World Anti-doping Agency last week.
THE FLOOR TO...
Kevin Carpenter, Principal & Consultant, Captivate Legal & Sports Solutions
At the end of my first major paper on the topic of match-fixing (aka. competition manipulation) five years ago I concluded as follows, “The perception of a problem of match fixing can be as serious a threat as the actual problem itself, so both are important to tackle…The increasing presence of criminals across the sporting spectrum should be a concern for all stakeholders and provide additional impetus to the continuing need for concerted action on a global scale.” So five years on where are we? Since I established my own consultancy business almost one year ago, in my specialist fields of sports integrity and governance, I have been privileged to have, and continue to, work with INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Keep Crime Out of Sport project (KCOOS), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other international and national sports organisations on what I continue to firmly believe is the greatest threat to sport today.
Working alongside this breadth and diversity of stakeholders who are implementing policies and strategies to combat the multi-faceted threat of match-fixing has provided me with a unique insight as to the progress that has and is being made, and the significant challenges which now face what has become an “anti-match-fixing industry”.
First, I have for some time been concerned about a duplication of efforts and resources, despite most interested parties in the “industry” acting with good intentions. Positively however, it now seems that the different actors I mention above are beginning to differentiate their efforts and target specific groups and actions. For example, the UNODC will later this year publish a Resource Guide on Good Practices in the Investigation of Match-Fixing aimed principally at law enforcement, whilst in a joint-project the INTERPOL-IOC have just launched their Handbook on Conducting Fact-Finding Inquiries into Breaches of Sports Integrity, with accompanying training, aimed at investigators working within sports organisations. However, we need to have a more nuanced approach as to how we view and categorise public and private bodies. In particular, due to the differences in national cultures and legal systems (i.e. common and civil law) law enforcement should be broken down into police, prosecutors and judges. Education and awareness raising has of course been a prominent strategy for many stakeholders in the past 5 years. Yet, one group that I believe we have failed to engage properly to care and take action regarding match-fixing are the general public, in particular sports supporters. The key question to be addressed is: how to “sell” match-fixing to those people? Finally, the single largest conundrum that needs solving in this field, in my opinion, is the efficient, effective and secure exchange of information globally between public entities (governments, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and betting regulators) and private bodies (sports organisations and betting operators). Solutions to this can only be achieved by interested stakeholders cooperating and thinking globally. Although there will always be people who want to corrupt one of the most important sectors in society, after the past year I am far more optimistic that the key stakeholders are starting to turn the tide against fixers, at the local, national and international levels, due to greater proactivity and coordination.
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INVESTIGATIONS
Australia
MATCH-fixing is happening in Australia and we need to call in Interpol to stop organised gangs infiltrating our sports. This chilling warning and dramatic offer comes from Interpol’s head of Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes unit James Anderson. Interpol recently arrested 48 people after Operation Aces, a taskforce into illegal online gambling in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Korea. Mr Anderson offered to set up a similar taskforce to attack match-fixing in Australia. “If Australians are being adversely affected by offshore gambling, that’s where we have to step in and get the appropriate countries and officials in these countries to talk about the issues,” Mr Anderson said. “If Australia is serious about addressing this ... we stand ready and we have intel to help our member countries.” "He said Interpol was aware of NSW Police’s Organised Crime Squad’s investigations into match-fixing in the NRL. “We suspect match-fixing (has occurred) in Australia,” Mr Anderson said. “We have seen ... that people are now talking about match-fixing and the authorities are realising: ‘Wow, we might look at this’. This is potentially big. Very big." “Match-fixing is always a concern when you’re talking about a large amount of money to be made and you have to think: ‘Who is co-ordinating that? Who is making the money and where is it coming from?’ It concerns us.”
