Weekly integrity in sport update from INTERPOL 15-21 February 2016

In this week's media recap we can reports on different sports: football, swimming and tennis. The investigation in the Netherlands indicated how much time it can take to unveil a match-fixing attempt.

On the other hand, the good anti-doping practice adopted by "FINA" and the new legislation in Australia are positive signs to maintain the integrity in sport.

CURRENT INVESTIGATION

Netherlands

Attempts to fix the result of a Netherlands league match seven years ago have been uncovered by a Dutch football association (KNVB) investigation. It is the first time such a case has been established in the country, the KNVB added in a statement. It said the investigation had uncovered an attempt by Ibrahim Kargbo, then a player at Willem II Tilburg, to fix the outcome of a league match against FC Utrecht in August 2009 in co-operation with Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean who has been convicted of fraud on numerous occasions. “Dutch football is one of the last in Europe to lose its innocence in this matter,” said the KNVB operational director, Gijs de Jong. “We have long warned this could happen in the Dutch league but it is still difficult to swallow now that this has been established. Hopefully it will add urgency in the Netherlands to the fight against this plague.“ The KNVB said Kargbo had promised that the then captain Michael Aerts and a third unidentified player would work together with him to throw the match against Utrecht in return for €25,000 each. But although Utrecht won 1-0, Perumal, who has already been prosecuted and jailed in other countries for match-fixing, refused to pay saying the agreement had been for a win by more than a single goal. “Nevertheless, it has been established that they agreed on the outcome of the match. There is not enough legal evidence to determine whether Aerts was involved and it is unclear who the third person was,” added the KNVB statement. It also said a benefit match between Willem II and the Sierra Leone national team in November 2009 was specifically organised with the objective of manipulating the result on behalf of an Asian betting syndicate. Results of Sierra Leone national team in other competitions might also have been fixed by Kargbo, who was captain of the team, according to the statement. Allegations made by a Dutch newspaper last year that other Willem II matches had been manipulated were not proven, the statement added, with KNVB saying it would send the report to FIFA and Uefa and the Dutch police. The 33-year-old Kargbo, who last played at English non-league club Thamesmead Town, will not be allowed to participate in any capacity in Dutch football in the future, said the statement. Kargbo has already been suspended in Sierra Leone for alleged match-fixing. Perumal, 50, has featured in cases involving more than 100 manipulated matches around the world and been jailed in Finland and Hungary.

Source: AP, "Dutch football alleges first case of attempted match-fixing", 15 February 2016, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/15/dutch-football-investigation-alleged-match-fixing

GOOD PRACTICE

Brazil

The world's best swimmers will face up to seven anti-doping tests in the run up to August's Rio Olympics. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) will oversee the initiative after critics said it had not done enough to fight doping. The testing will mainly be done by leading national anti-doping agencies. "FINA deserves a lot of credit for embracing the voice of clean athletes," said United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) boss Travis Tygart. Figures within swimming suggested the idea for the sport's leading competitors to be tested between five and seven times ahead of the summer Games. "Partnering with independent national anti-doing organisations to implement a strategic, global pre-Rio testing plan will help protect athletes' rights and the integrity of the sport of swimming," added Tygart. Teaming up with Usada will be anti-doping agencies from most of the major swimming nations, including UK Anti-Doping. FINA accepted the plan, which has not been formally agreed yet by every party, after a meeting with Tygart in Lausanne in January. The promise to test every swimmer ranked in the top 10 times for all 34 Olympic events will represent a significant increase in the amount of testing the sport has been doing, although several stars will be ranked in more than one event. But some leading coaches have already expressed their concerns to the BBC that the anti-doping agencies of Brazil, China and Russia are not involved. Those three are currently among the most-tested nations by FINA itself and are all expected to win medals in Rio.

Source: Matt Slater, "Rio 2016: Extra drug tests for swimming stars ahead of Games", 15 February 2016, BBC Sport, https://www.bbc.com/sport/swimming/35577238

Monday, 22 February 2016