INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 27 August 2019 - 9 September 2019
The Irish police is investigating alleged match-fixing at several League of Ireland football games where unusual betting patterns were recorded. In Spain, players, coaches and team officials were in court to defend themselves in the case involving a top-tier Spanish league game between Levante and Zaragoza at the end of the 2010-11 season.
In terms of sanctions, two Hong Kong brothers have been banned for life by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after being found guilty of match-fixing offences. Their team mate has also been suspended for five years following an investigation by an ICC tribunal.
The Malta Gaming Authority has created a new Sports Integrity Unit in an effort to increase focus and resources dedicated to preventing the manipulation of sporting events and competitions.
In the United States, Oregon became the 12th state to offer legalized sports betting following the repeal of a federal ban in 2018.
World Rugby (WR) is operating an education-focused integrity programme to ‘Keep Rugby Onside’ at Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. WR will rely on close collaboration with the International Betting Integrity Association, Japanese Police and INTERPOL as well as its existing partnership with Sportradar and the International Olympic Committee.
Officials representing over 110 governments, international sports organizations, academia, private sector as well as INTERPOL, attended the two-day conference “Safeguarding Sport from Corruption: towards effective implementation of resolution 7/8 on corruption in sport” organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions CETS 215 has entered into force on 1 September 2019. Italy, Republic of Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine are the first States Parties to the Macolin Convention.
In terms of doping, a former 800 metres Belarusian world champion has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance with similar properties to anabolic steroids that is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. A South African World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2018 faces a four-year ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances.
Lastly, Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating the management of Sports Kenya over irregular award of tenders worth over Sh5 billion for the construction and renovation sports facilities across the country. Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is conducting a new investigation into the country's Football Federation regarding fraud allegations over how sponsorship money meant for the development of football in the country has been stolen. French authorities investigating corruption in international sports believe a Swiss partner of Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc played a "central and essential role" in deals used to embezzle sponsorship money and have asked Switzerland to raid its office and seize evidence.
The next bi-weekly bulletin will be circulated on Monday, 23 September 2019.
- 2015 World Championships in Beijing 800 Metres AMS Anti-Corruption Anti-Doping Athletics Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Belarus Chinook Winds Conference on Corruption in Sport Cricket Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) EUROPOL Football France Garda's National Economic Crime Bureau Golden Lions Hong Kong ILO International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) International Cricket Council (ICC) International Olympic Committee (IOC) International Partnership against Corruption in Sport (IPACS) INTERPOL Ireland Italy Japan Johannesburg Kathmandu Kenya Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) League of Ireland Lincoln City Lions Rugby Company Malta Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) Match Fixing Mexico National Football League (NFL) Nepal New York Nigeria Nigeria Football Federation Norway Oregon Oregon Lottery Scoreboard Paris Portugal Republic of Moldova Rugby Rugby World Cup 2019 RWC 2019 SA Rugby South Africa Spain Sports Betting Switzerland The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions The Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions CETS 215 The Macolin Convention The Ministry of Youth and Sports The South African Institute of Drug Free Sport (Saids) Tokyo Toyko 2020 Ukraine United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) United States of America (USA) Vienna World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) World Rugby ‘Keep Rugby Onside’
