INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 24 July 2018 - 6 August 2018

Over the past two weeks, several match-fixing investigations unfolded. In Fiji, an investigation committee was formed by the Football Association to look into match-fixing allegations at the 2018 Battle of the Giants tournament. In Nigeria, the first assistant coach of the football team was filmed while taking bribe to influence the player selection. The new coach of Egypt denies any involvement in reopened Spanish match-fixing investigation, however, could face two years in prison if convicted. Investigations also continue in Ukraine, with investigative bodies conducting interrogations and preparing to ban dozens of individuals from football.

The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) reported the suspension of an Argentinian tennis player who has been found guilty of match-fixing and failed to report a number of corrupt approaches to the TIU. He will be sanctioned at a later date.

An investigation shows that scammers posing as talent agents use social media to trick African children and their families into sending them to Europe for a career in football. Victims as young as 13 are given fake passports and sent to remote countries to "wait for visas". As the documents never turn, children are left with no cash or identification and are often forced into lives of drug dealing, slavery or prostitution.

In terms of policy, Australia proposes prison terms for athletes passing insider information to bookmakers and stricter punishments for dopers. In Italy, the Council of Ministers approved the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (“Macolin Convention”, CETS No. 215). In Ireland, the government is investing €220m in sport for the next 10 years.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) welcomed new anti-doping regulations in the sport that put greater responsibility on national federations.

Following an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) council meeting, national federations will be divided into three categories with differing obligations based on their level of success and the perceived risk of doping. The IAAF said four member federations – Kenya, Ethiopia, Belarus, Ukraine – would constitute the current watch-list of Category A, which includes the members most at risk of doping.

We are pleased to announce that INTERPOL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are expanding their joint global capacity-building and training programme to protect the integrity of sports. The joint training programme strengthens global operational networks to tackle competition manipulation like the IOC Integrity Betting Intelligence System or the INTERPOL Match-Fixing Task Force, the operational arm of the programme with 125 points of contact in 81 countries, as well as at Europol.

In terms of good practices, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) signed an agreement with RC3 and Partners Consulting to create a sports integrity awareness-raising programme dedicated to players, coaches, FIVB licensed agents and officials.

The 2018 eSports Survey reveals that 71% of the professional respondents fear the eSports gambling could lead to match-fixing. In addition, 78% of espondents view match-fixing as a serious or moderate risk to the sustained wellness and growth of an industry that is projected to grow to nearly $1 billion by the end of 2018.

During the second quarter of 2018, international betting integrity body ESSA (Sports Betting Integrity) reported 62 cases of suspicious betting involving tennis, football, bowls, handball, boxing, basketball, beach volleyball and eSports.

Lastly, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed FIFA’s former secretary general appeal seeking to overturn his 10-year ban from football over corruption.

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, 20 August 2018.

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Tuesday, 07 August 2018