INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 16 April 2019 - 29 April 2019

Belgian police raided the offices of football club Anderlecht and the national football association in relation to a money laundering investigation involving agents and player transfers. In Cyprus, police are investigating eight second-division games for suspected match fixing, following an earlier suspension of all second-division games. In France, the French Professional Football League is looking into allegations of match-fixing related to the battle for relegation. One club president alerted the federation about possible match fixing involving some of his players. Also in France, the lottery Française des Jeux alerted the police of suspicious betting activity, in relation to large bets, placed locally, on the outcome of a Tunisian football game.

In Greece, a businessman and owner of Olympiakos and Nottingham Forrest will stand trial for match-fixing together with another 27 individuals, after judges dismissed their appeal.

Meanwhile, the Tennis Integrity Unit suspended and fined a Belgian player after admitting to betting on tennis matches, and provisionally suspended a Brazilian tennis player in another case. FIFA, the governing body of world football, issued eight lifetime bans to current and former players and an agent after they were found guilty of match fixing. FIFA also issued a lifetime ban on José Maria Marin, the former president of the Brazil federation. The 86-year-old was jailed for four years last August in New York after being found guilty of corruption.

The coach, owner and jungler of a Hong Kong-based e-sports team, Dragon Gate, have been sanctioned for match-fixing and betting on league matches, and were removed from the league.

We also report two successful raids against illegal gambling operations. In Malaysia, the Serdang District Police arrested 107 foreigners and 203 locals suspected of involvement in illegal online gambling activities, and seized cash and equipment. In Vietnam, police arrested at least 22 people this week in connection with a massive $1.28 billion gambling ring that may have involved hundreds of thousands of user accounts, allegedly focusing on sports and football betting. It is believed to be the largest illegal online gaming operation ever in the East Asian nation.

In the UK, the Football Association leveled gambling charges against a former player for placing 140 bets between 2015 and 2019. The player was retired but has held a club ownership interest.

In terms of partnerships, the Austrian Handball Federation joined the Fair Play Code, GLMS and the Moldovan Police join forces, and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile renew their partnership with Sportradar.

In the United States, the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association (SWIMA) has officially launched as a non-profit partner of industry stakeholders to identify and stop nefarious activity related to sports betting. SWIMA counts most of the major sports betting operators in the U.S. as founders, and is modeled after ESSA, the European operator initiative to ensure sports betting integrity.

In the world of doping, the British Horseracing Authority has committed £1m towards research on gene doping to keep ahead of potential cheats as the science of gene manipulation continues to develop.

Finally, we would like to highlight an in depth background article on the role of journalists in exposing wrongdoing in sports, while two of the men that put the doping crisis in the global spotlight say the integrity of sport now faces a greater threat from match-fixing than drug cheats.

We welcome submissions on best practices, major developments, new trends and relevant articles for publication in the bulletin.

The next bi-weekly bulletin will be circulated on Monday, 20 May 2019.

Monday, 29 April 2019