INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 23 January - 5 February 2018

Several investigation cases have surfaced over the past two weeks. In the United Arab Emirates, the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit is investigating a suspicious match from a private league in the UAE. In the United States, federal prosecutors continue to conduct an extensive investigation into global sports corruption, looking at possible racketeering, money laundering, and fraud charges. In Malaysia, authorities including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Royal Malaysia Police received strong support from a Deputy Prime Minister to eradicate match-fixing among players, coaches and management in Malaysia League football.

The International Olympic Committee warned that boxing may face expulsion from Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to governance issues and the alleged links of the Interim President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) with organized crime.

In Australia, the Victorian Commission of Gambling and Liquor Regulation is investigating whether Tennis Australia has complied with its anti-corruption protocol and the role it has in preventing match fixing.

In terms of sentences, a Shelbourne harness racing trainer has been fined $20,000 for his role in fixing three races in country Victoria (Australia) in 2014. As a measure to prevent any corruption approaches, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to hire two Integrity Officers to watch over players. Sierra Leone’s Sports Minister has denied interfering in the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) after receiving a letter from FIFA’s Secretary General warning him to allow SLFA to manage its affairs independently.

International betting integrity body ESSA published its 2017 Annual Integrity Report which states that tennis and football represent 77% of all suspicious betting alerts, but also reports cases in volleyball, table tennis, basketball, handball, snooker, badminton, boxing, ice hockey and e-Sports.

In terms of stakeholder cooperation, a number of agreements have been signed between different sport bodies to protect the integrity of sports in January 2018, as it is the case of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Genius Sports aiming to protect competitions against match-fixing. Similarly, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) signed an agreement with ESSA in view of protecting sport from potential match manipulation and sports betting breaches. Also, the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) signed a cooperation agreement with FIFA to strengthen their cooperation in safeguarding the integrity of football competitions.

Finally, an English football player serving a 13-month ban for placing bets on 1,260 matches, declared during an interview that he believes half of all professional footballers bet on matches.

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.

Monday, 05 February 2018