INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 26 December - 8 January 2018

Last year ended with the International Cricket Council’s announcement that there is no basis in the match-fixing allegations published by

The Sun earlier in December and featured in this bi-weekly. In Latin America, former Peruvian Olympic Committee Secretary General avoided jail sentence as a corruption investigation continues. Also in terms of investigations, a case has surfaced in the

Primeira Ligue Football in Portugal where four players from Rio Ave have been reportedly charged with a 500,000 euro match-fixing scam. The players were suspected of taking bribes to fix a defeat for their team in a first division game in February 2017. Also in Europe, we note serious match-fixing allegations and suspicious betting in the lower divisions of Spanish football.

When it comes to sentences, two former soccer officials were convicted of corruption charges at a US trial stemming from the FIFA bribery scandal. Earlier this January, former sumo grand champion has been fined after being found guilty of assault.

In Queensland, Australia, the Queensland Police Racing Crime Squad and the Racing Integrity Commission’s ongoing investigations in harness racing in 2017 have yielded significant results. In Kenya, severe discussions have emerged over the tax contribution by sports betting operators to fund sports, culture and arts in the country. Following a government tax hike, an online sports betting firm has canceled its direct sponsorship to football.

A cyber-security firm stated that hackers have attempted to steal sensitive data from groups involved with next month’s Winter Olympics. The report found malware-infected emails were sent last month to organizations linked to the Pyeongchang Games. In some cases the hackers used a technique in known as steganography which hides malware in text and images.

We note good practice in education and awareness raising in Ghana, where seminars on match fixing will be organized, and in golf, where the PGA tour now requires all players to undergo an online anti-gambling tutorial.

Finally, the Tennis Integrity Unit recently published its Annual Review for 2017 which can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.tennisintegrityunit.com/annual-review/2017/

Thursday, 11 January 2018