INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 23 October 2018 - 5 November 2018
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has recently suspended Sri Lanka’s bowling coach for match-fixing and other corruption conduct in the sport. Also in cricket, a former South African batsman pleaded guilty to eight corruption charges and is facing a potential 15-year sentence. The sportsman is being charged under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004, which makes match-fixing and spot-fixing in sport a crime in South Africa. This is the first time that this act is being exercised.
Young tennis players across Spain have allegedly been detained by the Guardia Civil in an investigation into alleged match-fixing on the ITF Futures and Challenger tours. They are suspected of being involved with the Armenian mafia.
Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president was handed a life ban from all football-related activities and fined 500,000 Swiss Francs by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) following various violations of the governing body’s ethics code, including bribery and corruption. He was found guilty after being filmed by an investigative journalist in a hotel room appearing to take a $65,000 bribe from a supposed businessman.
Media reports that an investigation of more than 70 million documents analysed over eight months by 80 journalists from members of the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) revealed that the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) knowingly helped clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City to cover up their irregularities, therefore avoiding the most severe Financial Fair Play punishment, namely being excluded from UEFA Champions League.
Two officials at a suspended Romanian anti-doping laboratory have been removed from their posts after being found to have covered up positive samples. The Bucharest Laboratory was provisionally suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 2017 due to non-compliance and has yet to be reinstated. Last week, WADA has also revoked the accreditation of the Laboratório de Análises de Dopagem (Lisbon Laboratory) due to non-compliance with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and its related Technical Documents.
In a bid to tackle match-fixing in sport competitions and addiction among gamblers, Albania’s parliament has recently passed a law banning sports betting and other forms of gambling from 2019. Albania’s sports betting industry has an annual turnover estimated at 700 million euros, raising concerns about its impact on low-income families and the integrity of national sport.
In terms of good practice, Victoria Police has signed a Letter of Agreement with the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) in a bid to continue targeting suspicious betting activity on Australian sporting events. Police will be alerted to irregular betting patterns and receive alerts of suspicious betting activity on sporting events nationwide. The alerts will be sent to the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit for investigation. GLMS will not be able to access any law enforcement data.
INTERPOL’s Project Stadia has launched its Knowledge Management System (SKMS) to support host countries in their safety and security preparations for major national and international public events. Creating a global network of experts in the field of major event policing and security, SKMS provides real-time information on emerging incidents, events and emergencies.
Lastly, twenty people risk being ordered to stand trial for alleged corruption in the long-delayed plans to build a new stadium for Roma. Prosecutors in Rome wrapped up their investigation last week, nearly five months after the stadium’s main constructor and eight other people were arrested for alleged wrongdoing linked to bureaucratic matters involving the proposed venue. Prosecutors also allege that payments were made illegally in cash, along with bills for non-existent job hires and counselling.
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, 19 November 2018.
- Albania Anti-Corruption Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Anti-Doping Australia Bucharest Cape Town Colombo Cricket Europe European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) FIFA Financial Fair Play Football France Ghana Ghana Football Association (GFA) ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACU) International Cricket Council (ICC) Italy Laboratório de Análises de Dopagem (Lisbon Laboratory) Lisbon London Lyon Man City Manchester City Match Fixing Match-Fixing Murcia Paris Paris Saint-Germain Portugal PSG Romania Rome South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Stadia Knowledge Management System (SKMS) Tennis UEFA World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
