INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 5 March 2019 - 18 March 2019

A Chilean tennis player has been banned from professional tennis after being found guilty of match-fixing and associated corruption offences. The Greek football federation decided the relegation of OFI Crete to the second division and of Aiginiakos to the third division, after being found guilty of match-fixing during the 2018 Football League match. A former Zimbabwe cricket director has been given a 10-year ban from Good news from Moldova, as it has become the fourth country to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sport Competitions (“Macolin Convention”). The Convention needs a fifth ratification to enter into force.

In Austria, the Tennis Federation is the fifth sports discipline to have joined the Play Fair Code, an initiative to carry out prevention and awareness raising on competition manipulation in Austria. In San Marino, a series of workshops have kicked following a new law to fight match-fixing.

In the fight against illegal gambling, more than 700 law enforcement officers in Hong Kong raided 40 game centres and illegal gambling dens and arrested 267 individuals, including 80 non-Chinese. In the United States, the Arizona Department of Gaming seized close to $1 million in cash during illegal gambling raids.

In terms of doping, Morocco has put into place a new law against doping including criminal sanctions. Russia’s doping ban from international track and field will remain in place until the Moscow laboratory data has been analysed, a process that could lead to the country’s reinstatement before this year’s world championships. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has tested riders for the painkiller tramadol at the Paris-Nice race for the first time, now the tramadol ban became effective on 1 March 2019.

In Germany, gambling regulators are questioning the partnership between the German Football Association and a gambling operator, as it would illegally advertise casino gambling next to the authorised sports betting.

In Australia, a recent article from the Sydney Morning Herald has addressed match-fixing allegations from a Wallabies’ fixture several years ago.

Following cases of corruption in sports, a newspaper investigation questions a number of payments by the state of Qatar just weeks before awarding the rights to hold the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Lastly, in an investigation into corruption in college basketball in the United States, three men have been sentenced to prison for their role, pending the appeals process.

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, 1 April 2019.

Tuesday, 19 March 2019