Integrity in sports update: Indian government forms ‘All India Council of Sports'

This week we found out about several match-fixing investigations which are being carrying out in different continents and sports such as football, basketball and tennis.

With regards to good practice, India has announced that the Council of Sports, an advisory body for the Ministry of Youth affairs and sports, will duly advice the government of its findings.

CURRENT INVESTIGATION

Korea (Rep. of)

Police said Wednesday that they would send evidence of a match-fixing allegation involving Anyang KGC head coach Jeon Chang-jin to the prosecution shortly. Jeon had been under investigation since May on suspicion of placing illegal bets on the Internet gambling site Sports Toto on three occasions against his own team, the KT Sonicboom, during the 2014-2015 season. After the season, he moved to his current team. "We'll refer the case to the prosecution, asking it to indict him without detention," a police officer said. Police initially asked the prosecution to request an arrest warrant for him, but the prosecution rejected it, saying they had already secured enough evidence. Police suspect that Jeon deliberately made his team lose by benching team members who were playing well instead of those who played poorly.

Source: Lee Kyung-min, "Basketball coach to be indicted for match-fixing", 22 July 2015, Korea Times, https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/07/116_183292.html

Mexico

Mexico's win over Panama in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinal on Wednesday has been shrouded in controversy, stemming from how both teams played to how the match was officiated.

CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit has issued a statement regarding the performance of referee Mark Geiger during the match, via EmpireofSoccer.com's Mark Fishkin.

Mexico got a 2-1 victory in the match to set up a Gold Cup final against Jamaica on Sunday, but the way it happened drew the ire of fans and analysts everywhere.

Panama was reduced to 10 men in the first half after Geiger deemed that Luis Tejada elbowed Francisco Rodriguez. More controversy followed when Geiger later awarded Mexico a penalty in the 89th minute after Roman Torres was adjudged to have handled the ball following an attempted clearance. Mexico won the game after Geiger awarded a second penalty in extra time, which Andres Guardado converted.

Panama Football Federation president Pedro Chaluja said after his country's loss that he wanted FIFA and CONCACAF to look into a possible match-fixing scandal, via ESPNFC.com.

Source: Adam Wells, "Referee Admits Game-Altering Errors in Mexico vs. Panama 2015 Gold Cup Semifinal", 25 July 2015, World Football, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2531090-referee-admits-game-altering-errors-in-mexico-vs-panama-2015-gold-cup-semifinal

Netherlands

The Tennis Integrity Unit is investigating the tennis match between two Kazakhstani players in the challenger tournament in Scheveningen on Wednesday for match fixing. The three sets between the two players showed suspicious patterns on the gambling market, NRC reports.

The two players involved are Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Andrey Golubev. Nedovyesov beat Golubev with 2-6, 7-6 and 6-2. Betting office Unibet Group signaled the match as suspicious at the TUI. “The prices on the global market fluctuated so that they gave reason for concern”, Eric Konings, integrity manager at Unibet Group told NRC. The gambling behavior favored Golubev midway through the second set at 6-2 and 3-3, while on the gambling market Nedovyesov was the favorite for victory at that stage. Given the state at that time, it is illogical. Another suspicious sign is that Golubev made error after error in the tiebreak of the second set – faults, a double serve fault and hitting balls into the net. Nedovyesov won the tiebreak and then the match.

In May a match between the two in Aix-en-Provence followed a similar pattern, but then with Golubev as the winner.

Source: Janene Van Jaarsveldt, "Tennis match-fixing under investigation after Hague event", 24 July 2015, NL Times, https://www.nltimes.nl/2015/07/24/tennis-match-fixing-under-investigation-after-hague-event/

Tuesday, 28 July 2015