INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 14-27 November 2016

      THE FLOOR TO... 

       Mr Severin Moritzer, CEO Play Fair Code 

Prior to 2012, the complex set of questions relating to how to deal with the controversial issues of match-fixing and betting fraud had never been tackled in a comprehensive manner in Austria. This changed substantially when the Austrian Ministry of Sport, the Austrian Football Association (AFA) and the Austrian Football League collectively founded the Association for Protecting the Integrity in Sport. Using the brand name ‘Play Fair Code’ in its day-to-day activities, the association has subsequently been joined by a series of other major sports stakeholders, including the Austrian Federal Sports Organisation, the Austrian Olympic Committee, the Austrian Ski Federation, the Bookmakers’ Federation, the Austrian Lotteries and the Austrian Ice Hockey League (Erste Bank Eishockey Liga), together with a range of Austrian betting providers. The operating strategy of the Play Fair Code, which was laid down as soon as the organisation was founded and remains clearly defined, lies in prevention and monitoring, and has included the creation of an ombudsman facility to receive communications related to match-fixing in Austrian sport. From the very beginning the Play Fair Code applied a top-down education strategy, with professional athletes (including future professional athletes) constituting the first target group, followed by the interface between professional, semi-professional and amateur athletes, referees and sport representatives. Since 2012, all players in Austria’s top two professional leagues plus the third-highest Austrian division, the Austrian Football Association’s national teams (both men’s and women’s football and youth teams), players at its youth academies and the country’s top match officials have been trained using a tool developed especially for professional footballers, professional youth team players, referees and linesmen. Experience to date has confirmed that the one-to-one athlete education approach is a sustainable and verifiable model of raising awareness and understanding. It also provides a means to speak directly about the penalties for involvement in match-fixing, such as criminal law prosecution, consequences from the point of view of the AFA’s regulations, labour law implications and, last but not least, the loss of social reputation. With the idea of creating incentives for informants, the Play Fair Code, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport, has set up an ombudsman’s office since 1 February 2014 as a confidential first point of contact for athletes and participants in sport in the event of issues related to match-fixing. The contacts have been extensively promoted in the Austrian world of sport, and they can be reached by e-mail or telephone around the clock. They are available to help and offer advice free of charge, to receive information and tips about match-fixing that is either being planned or has already taken place, and to investigate the concern. The ombudsman’s office is required to treat any information it receives from informants in total confidence, and it can be contacted anonymously. Working in close collaboration and harmony with the informant/person seeking advice – and, most importantly of all, only ever with their explicit agreement – the ombudsman will then contact the Play Fair Code, in order to find a tailored solution, together with the sports association involved. Combating match-fixing demands far-reaching and ongoing efforts from sports associations, law enforcement agencies, betting operators, governmental institutions and other stakeholders. The Play Fair Code has dealt with these demands now for more than four years, gaining experience and developing know-how and good practices by acquiring and involving the relevant stakeholders and exchanging best-practice approaches on a national and international level. With the prospect of a national platform being established in the future in the context of Austrias signature of the EPAS convention against match-fixing on 2 June 2016, it is satisfying that some milestones have already been achieved in Austria with the Play Fair Code. www.playfaircode.at

SENTENCES/SANCTIONS

Italy

The match-fixing case involving Marco Cecchinato is far from ending smoothly. The Italian sports authority received an appeal from the public prosecutor on behalf of the Italian tennis Federation against the decision of the Court of Appeal of reducing Cecchinato's ban from 18 to 12 months and the fine from €40,000 to €20,000. The appeal also included the reduction of penalty on Riccardo Accardi and Antonio Campo, who had attemped to fix matches. Acciardi saw his ban being reduced from 12 to 10 months and the fine from €10,000 to €5,000, while there was no reduction in the €4,000 fine imposed on Campo. For Cecchinato and Acciardi, the authorities have asked for at least a three-year ban. The Court of Appeal had said that there wasn't any plan to fix the matches. The biggest accusation towards Cecchinato at first was the fact that he had fixed the match played against Kamil Majchrzak in the Mohammedia Challenger in October 2015. A few weeks before playing this match, Cecchinato, angry because they had lost a bet on an Italian football match, had said to his friend Riccardo Accardi, who was the one to bet, that they could consolidate only with the money earned in Morocco. But according to the Tribunal, Cecchinato intended to get a good result in the tournament so that he could earn a good amount of prize money. He had told Accardi to bet for a win of his opponent because was not feeling well and not because he wanted to lose intentionally.

Source: Gatto Luigi, "Marco Cecchinato faces three-year ban for match-fixing", 18 November 2016, Tennis World USA https://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Tennis_Stories/38393/marco-cecchinato-faces-threeyear-ban-for-matchfixing/ 

United Kingdom 

A non-league manager banned for betting staked more than £2,200 on his team to lose a specific game, the Football Association has revealed. Nick Bunyard was given a three-year ban and fined £3,000 on 9 November, after placing 45 bets against his own teams. In releasing their written reasons for the ban, the FA said that Bunyard made a £1,436 profit when his Frome Town side lost at Weymouth on 2 April 2016. The FA commission accepted Bunyard was not involved in match-fixing. In total, Bunyard breached regulations with 97 bets, staking a total of £6,888.24 at an average of £71 per bet, producing a net profit of £2,612.74. Of the 73 bets he placed on matches involving either Frome Town or former club Paulton Rovers, he made a net profit of £1,924.29. Relating to the 2-0 loss to Weymouth, Bunyard placed 19 bets on the match, using four different markets, with four different betting operators. The bets he placed on Frome to lose - totalling £2,201 - included a specific market that they would do so by more than 1.5 goals - and Weymouth's second goal was scored in the 89th minute. However, the FA stressed that is was "not their case that Bunyard was involved in 'fixing' or influencing the outcome of any of the matches in which he placed bets on his own team to lose [or to win]". An outfield player played in goal for Frome in the match at Weymouth because they had four registered goalkeepers unavailable, the FA statement revealed. Frome, who play in England's seventh tier, have said that Bunyard's three-year ban was "excessive" in comparison to more high-profile cases. FA rules prohibit "all those involved in the game" from betting on football "that takes place anywhere in the world". The defence Bunyard put to the commission stated that the bets against his teams had "not been done as a calculated way to profit, but were based on unavoidable facts about injured, suspended or unavailable players" and were attempts to "soften the blow" if they lost. He told BBC Somerset that betting "is part of the culture of football," and, since the ban, he has announced his retirement from the game.

Source: "Nick Bunyard: Banned non-league manager 'bet £2,200 on his side to lose one match'", 21 November 2016, BBC Sport https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38058165