INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 18 September 2018 - 1 October 2018

Several investigations into cricket and football surfaced over the last two weeks of September. During the 2018 Asia Cup, an Afghanistan wicketkeeper has been approached to underperform at the Afghan Premier League and reported the matter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) who stated that as many as five international captains have been approached for spot-fixing over the last 12 months.

In Portugal, Benfica reportedly offered prostitutes and the payment of hotel bills for match officials. In Spain, the National Police is investigating football clubs in the Balearic Third Division for match-fixing; police indicated that games were being fixed for amounts up to 30,000 euro per club. Following an 18-month investigation, a Nigerian footballer who played for Manchester City and Fulham has been charged in Sweden for offering a bribe to former AIK Stockholm to fix a match against Gothenburg in 2017.

The former president and the majority shareholder of Nimes Olympique football club will appeal prison sentences given to them earlier in September.

FIFA’s ethics committee has imposed life bans on three officials for bribery and corruption after they pleaded guilty in the US Department of Justice’s investigation of international soccer. Despite the governance issues within the Sierra Leone Football Association, FIFA will continue its match-fixing investigations.

The Referees' Association of Ghana (RAG) has handed life-time bans to six more referees following an investigation into bribery. It also banned 47 match officials for 10 years each, while another 14 were exonerated. RAG also confirmed the sanctions handed down by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) last month – two for life and six others for 10 years. It brings the total with life bans to eight and those with 10-year bans to 53.

Following a Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) investigation, an Australian tennis player has been convicted of match-fixing charges after admitting to deliberately losing the first set of a match at the Latrobe City Traralgon ATP Challenger tournament in 2016 in Victoria, Australia. The Independent Hearing Officer ruled that 19 months provisional suspension already served by the player constitutes the full and final sanction for breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has lifted the suspension of Russia's anti-doping agency (RUSADA) under strict conditions, despite opposition from dozens of athletes and the anti-doping establishment. Following the WADA ruling, athletics' global governing body, the IAAF, said in a statement that the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) would continue to remain suspended for the time being.

The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) decided to designate the Korea Skating Union (KSU) as a sports entity that needs special care after over multiple corruption cases. The latest decision means all current KSU executives will need to step down from their positions. Their administrative work will be now managed by those who are dispatched from the KSOC. Along with the KSU, Korea Bodybuilding Fitness Federation (KBBF) and Korea Equestrian Federation (KEF) will also take the same steps and will be controlled by KSOC officials until their administration system is normalized.

Last week, the Council of Europe organized the 3rd International Conference on the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions – Promotion and implementation of the Macolin Convention (CETS no. 215), where a number of key public and private stakeholders took the floor, including INTERPOL.

Lastly, we would like to share with our readership a video <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-45551535/i-can-fix-a-top-algerian-football-match-for-68000> on whistleblowers who explain how bribery has impacted on all levels of football in Algeria.

We welcome submissions on best practices, major developments, new trends and relevant articles for publication in the bulletin. We also welcome hard copies of publications that your Organization is producing in the field of sports corruption at the below address.

The next bi-weekly bulletin will be circulated on Monday, 22 October 2018.

Monday, 01 October 2018