INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 16 April 2018 - 30 April 2018

For the last two weeks of April, we have been following with keen interest several recent developments in terms of match-fixing investigations, sport sanctions, policy and corruption issues.

In Africa, Ghana’s Deputy Youth and Sports Minister has been suspended as an investigation began into an alleged visa scam which led to 60 Ghanaians being arrested when trying to attend the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested two referees over match-fixing. Also in Nigeria, the Referees Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the recommendation of its Disciplinary Board to ban a Nigerian referee from any official mission for one year over attempted match manipulation. Congolese Fifa council member arrested on suspicion of corruption and embezzlement of funds has accused the DR Congo Sports Minister of orchestrating his arrest after he was released from detention.

In Asia, a court has cleared four former players of a Hong Kong Premier League soccer club of match-fixing charges who were found not guilty on charges of conspiracy to defraud and offering and accepting bribes. Additionally, former Hong Kong Player of the Year, who pleaded guilty of match-fixing last year, will receive his sentence in May 2018. Betting on matches played overseas is legal in Hong Kong but placing wagers on local games is prohibited. In this connection, Hong Kong Football Association Chief Executive has called on the authorities to look into changing the existing regulations.

In Europe, Moldovan authorities searched FC Dacia Chisinau on suspicion of 10 million lei tax evasion, match-fixing and money laundering.

In terms of sentences and sanctions, in the United Kingdom, Bradley Wood received a six-year ban from the Football Association for violating the FA’s betting and integrity rules, including two charges of match-fixing. In the United States, Lance Armstrong will pay $5 million to the federal government to settle a fraud lawsuit that contended he owed $100 million to taxpayers for doping while competing for a cycling team sponsored by the US Postal Service.

Last week, the Interim Report 2018 <https://tennisirp.com/> of the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis was published. The two-year review spoke to more than 100 players, surveyed more than 3,200 professionals and found a "very significant" corruption problem at "lower and middle levels of the sport". Also last week, the first working group meeting on Action 3 of the Kazan Action Plan, which aims at adopting guidelines on the promotion and defense of integrity in sport, took place in Paris.

The new International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Anti-Doping Policy came into force in mid-April as the IWF continues to implement robust anti-doping reforms to protect clean athletes by improving its systems in place.

In Malta, a new bill tackling corruption in sports is said to do little to “eradicate the culture of omertà” and that the creation of a sports integrity unit within the police force would be beneficial. In the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) begins work of implementing complex basketball reforms.

Lastly, the Seoul-based SBS television network reported that Samsung tried to use as a lobbyist Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack, a disgraced former head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The SBS said the son requested Samsung to sign a $9.5 million sponsorship for the IAAF's Diamond League circuit from 2010-2012 in return for possibly lobbying some IOC members to support Pyeongchang's bid. The SBS based its speculation on email exchanges between Samsung and Papa Massata Diack that it says were contained among documents South Korean prosecutors confiscated in a raid on Samsung over a separate corruption investigation last year.

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, 14 May 2018.

Tuesday, 01 May 2018