INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 3 April 2018 - 16 April 2018
This month, we followed with close interest several investigations conducted in Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
In Spain, World Rugby launched an urgent inquiry into last month’s 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifier between Spain and Belgium at the centre of a Romanian match-fixing
row. In the United Kingdom, police are still investigating 11 people over alleged match-fixing in a Welsh Premier League match which was played two years ago. In India, a group of five people were arrested for fixing matches in the ongoing edition of the 2018 Indian Premier League.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is investigating allegations of match-fixing during a Confederation Cup playoff between Plateau United and USM Alger of Algeria. In this connection, four South African match officials were approached before the game with an offer of $30,000 to fix the result, but they rejected it. The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is investigating wrongdoings after a FIFA audit into construction of its lavish new Auckland headquarters raised corruption concerns.
In terms of doping, Austrian authorities raided the headquarters of International Biathlon Union (IBU) following a tip from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that its leaders may have been involved with the vast Russian doping scandal. Consequently, IBU’s President has stood down from his role, while the sport’s governing body has also suspended IBU’s Secretary General.
In terms of betting, French ARJEL (Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne) decided to ban online sports betting on all KF Skënderbeu matches until the end of the championship.
With regards to good practices, worldwide experts from the sporting and racing industries gathered in Melbourne, Australia, as part of a joint Victoria Police and Sport and Recreation Victoria symposium entitled ‘Effective Governance: Preventing Corruption and Maintaining Integrity in Sport’ which addressed corruption in sport issues.
Lastly, Sportsradar’s Head of Esports was fired following a Twitter storm over his use of multiple accounts to bet on esports matches. Sportsradar acknowledged that he had been betting on matches, although it said no evidence had been found that he had been using insider information, or that he had bet on any matches where integrity concerns had been raised.
