INTERPOL Integrity in Sport Bi-Weekly Bulletin - 19 February 2019 - 4 March 2019
Operation Bloodletting targeting blood doping has led to the arrest of nine individuals in a series of raids on 16 properties, carried out by 120 officers from both the German and Austrian police. Five cross-country skiers from Austria, Estonia and Kazakhstan who were arrested in connection with the criminal doping investigation have also received provisional suspensions from the International Ski Federation (FIS). As part of the investigation, an Austrian professional cyclist admitted to doping after being arrested.
In Australia, two men have been charged with match-fixing offences after an 18-month investigation in the third tier of Australian football. A 54-year-old has been charged for engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome, and facilitating conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome. In addition, a 52-year-old has also been charged with facilitating match-fixing conduct. It is believed to be only the second time match-fixing charges have been laid in relation to a football league in Australia.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) banned for life and fined a Tanzanian referee for accepting bribes to manipulate several national and international matches between 2009 and 2012. Additionally, FIFA banned for life and fined a Zambian football official for accepting bribes to manipulate several international matches in 2010.
A former Sri Lanka captain has been banned from cricket for two years after admitting to two breaches of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code. The 49-year-old admitted failing to cooperate with an investigation and concealing, tampering with or destroying evidence. This is part of a wider investigation into corruption in Sri Lankan cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to discontinue the services of International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit’s services for the 12th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The BCCI will employ its own corruption unit for IPL 2019. Moreover, the UK Home Secretary has ordered the extradition of an alleged bookie to India to face charges of cricket match-fixing involving a former South African captain in 2000.
In terms of legislation, Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister announced that the country will establish new law against match-fixing and that the proposed Act will impose a five-year prison sentence.
An official in New York State has said that a proposed bill will likely allow sports betting in local stadiums in New York, unless faced with strong opposition.
Lastly, we would like to share with our readership the report <https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/71c67c33-1dff-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1/language-en> on Mapping of corruption in sport in the European Union prepared for the European Commission.
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, 18 March 2019.
INVESTIGATIONS
Austria
Cyclist admits blood doping amid investigations into network
VIENNA (AP) — The blood doping case which started with police raids at the Nordic skiing world championships four days ago spread to cycling on Sunday.
In Austria, authorities confirmed local media reports that an Austrian professional cyclist admitted to doping after being arrested on Friday following investigations into an alleged blood doping network.
Innsbruck state prosecutors’ spokesman Hansjorg Mayr said “a Tyrolean cyclist” was suspected of sports fraud in connection with the case involving “a German doctor and his accomplices.”
“The man was arrested on Friday, he has confessed, and he was released the same day,” said Mayr, who did not identify the cyclist in accordance with Austrian privacy laws.
It was the first arrest of an athlete from outside winter sports following Wednesday’s police raids in Erfurt, Germany, and at the Nordic worlds in Seefeld, Austria.
The raids led to the immediate arrests of nine people, including Austrian cross-country skiers Max Hauke and Dominik Baldauf, four-time Olympian Alexei Poltoranin of Kazakhstan, and Estonian teammates Karel Tammjarv and Andreas Veerpalu. All five have been provisionally suspended by the International Ski Federation.
The doctor at the center of the case is Mark Schmidt, who worked for the Gerolsteiner cycling team around the time Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl was stripped of his third place and the polka-dot jersey for best climber at the 2008 Tour de France for doping.
Schmidt, who was arrested in Erfurt, where he has a medical practice, has always denied wrongdoing. The remaining three people arrested were associates.
Source: 3 March 2019, AP
Cycling
https://www.apnews.com/eb1000c741e04bae9a1d56d65c9353dc
Austria, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Germany
Nordic skiing: Five athletes arrested in doping raids at world championships
VIENNA (Reuters) - Five athletes from Austria, Kazakhstan and Estonia were arrested on Wednesday in anti-doping raids at the Nordic skiing world championships in the Austrian resort of Seefeld, police said.
The raids were part of a broader operation targeting a Germany-based “criminal organization” suspected of having carried out blood doping for years, the Austrian police said.
A 40-year-old sports doctor is believed to be at the center of the organization, the police said in a statement, adding that he was also arrested in Germany on Wednesday.
In total nine people were arrested in 16 raids in Seefeld and Germany, the Austrian police said, adding that the operation was coordinated with the German authorities. One of the athletes was caught in the act of doping, officials said.
Munich’s state prosecutor’s office said the investigation was triggered by statements made by Austrian cross-country skier and doping offender Johannes Duerr to a German broadcaster earlier this year.
Duerr, who was caught doping during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, had talked to German broadcaster ARD in January. Two of the athletes arrested in Seefeld are from Austria, two are Estonian and one is from Kazakhstan, the police said.
Austrian media quoted an official from the country’s skiing federation as saying the two Austrians arrested were cross-country skiers Max Hauke and Dominik Baldauf, both 26.
“Athletes have been caught using unauthorized methods or substances. Unfortunately, it shocks me, two of our athletes are among them. They have been taken into custody, Baldauf and Hauke,” the federation’s sporting director for cross-country skiing and biathlon, Markus Gandler, told the APA news agency.
Reuters was not able to immediately contact the federation for comment.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had provided information to the investigation.
“The raids were part of a wider police operation targeting criminals from a number of European countries, and WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations Department has been providing information and other assistance to the authorities in the course of their operation,” WADA said in a statement.
Two other people were arrested in Seefeld while another two, including the sports doctor, were arrested in Germany, the police said.
The raids were part of an investigation that has lasted several months on suspicion of “professional sport fraud” and “use of prohibited substances and methods for doping purposes”.
This is not the first time that Austrian skiing has been hit by a doping case.
At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, the Austrian cross country and biathlon teams had their headquarters raided by Italian police and drugs testers in a high-profile doping scandal.
None tested positive but half a dozen athletes were banned for life after the discovery of syringes and other equipment, and the Austrian Olympic Committee was fined for anti-doping rules violations by the International Olympic Committee.
Source: Reporting by Francois Murphy; Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Editing by Ken Ferris and Christian Radnedge, 27 February 2019, Reuters
Skiing
United Kingdom; India
2000 match-fixing scandal: UK minister signs extradition order for wanted bookie Sanjeev Chawla
LONDON: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered the extradition of alleged bookie Sanjeev Chawla to India to face charges of cricket match-fixing dating back to 2000.
The UK Home Office confirmed on Saturday that the minister had given the go-ahead for Chawla to be sent to India after Westminster Magistrates' Court had over-ruled its previous ruling earlier this year to find no bars to his extradition.
Chawla, a key accused in the cricket match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, has 14 days from the date of the order to file an application to seek leave to appeal against the order.
"On 27 February 2019, the Secretary of State (Javid), having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Sanjeev Chawla's extradition to India," said a Home Office spokesperson.
"Sanjeev Chawla is accused in India of match-fixing in international cricket," the spokesperson said.
This is the second extradition order for India to be signed by Javid, the senior-most Pakistani-origin minister in the UK Cabinet, after he ordered the extradition of embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya last month to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores in India.
Mallya has since filed an application seeking leave to appeal against the order, which is currently pending in the UK High Court.
It is yet to be confirmed if Chawla will file a similar application against his extradition order, which follows a long-drawn legal battle since his arrest in June 2016.
Following an initial extradition trial, Westminster Magistrates' Court in London had concluded in October 2017 that while the 50-year-old had a prima facie case to answer, his human rights could not be guaranteed in Delhi's Tihar Jail, where he was to be held.
This ruling was challenged in the UK High Court by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities.
In a judgment handed down in the Royal Courts of Justice in London in November last year, Lord Justice Leggatt and Justice Dingemans upheld the Indian government's appeal and directed the District Judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court to review the order against the 50-year-old.
The High Court judges accepted the assurances provided by the Indian government that the accused will be accommodated in a cell to be occupied exclusively by him, with proper "safety and security" and complying with the "personal space and hygiene requirements" the court expects.
India had also made further guarantees on medical facilities and protection from intra-prisoner violence in the jail.
In January this year, the lower court issued a fresh order in favour of Chawla's extradition, which was sent to the UK home secretary, who formally signs off on the order under the India-UK Extradition Treaty.
According to court documents in the case, Chawla is described as a Delhi-born businessman who moved to the UK on a business visa in 1996, where he has been based while making trips back and forth to India.
After his Indian passport was revoked in 2000, he obtained a UK passport in 2005 and is now a British citizen.
In details of the case that emerged in court, Chawla was introduced to Hansie Cronje, the late South African cricket team captain, in January-February 2000.
It was suggested to Cronje, by Chawla and another person, that he could make significant amounts of money if he agreed to lose cricket matches.
Money was paid to Cronje at the time of the pending South African tour to India.
The tour took place in February-March 2000, with Chawla, Cronje and others conspiring to fix cricket matches in exchange for payment, with Chawla reportedly playing a central role, including direct contact with Cronje.
District Judge Crane's judgment dated October 16, 2017, had accepted a prima facie case against Chawla over his role in the fixing of cricket matches played between India and South Africa during the tour of the South African Cricket Team to India under the captainship of Hansie Cronje in February-March 2000.
However, on hearing expert evidence from Dr Alan Mitchell, a former medical officer with the Scottish prison system, she ruled in favour of Chawla on the grounds that his human rights would be violated in Tihar Jail under Section 87, Article 3, relating to "prohibition of torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment".
Incidentally, Vijay Mallya's defence team had also argued that India's jail cells are "far from satisfactory" and used the same UK prisons expert, Dr Alan Mitchell, to back up their claims" which were rejected by Judge Emma Arbuthnot when she ruled in favour of the 63-year-old businessman's extradition to India at the end of a trial in December last year.
Source: PTI, 2 March 2019, Indian Express
Cricket
SENTENCES/SANCTIONS
Australia
Victoria Police to charge men over alleged match fixing in NPL soccer match in 2017
Two men have been charged with match fixing offences after an 18-month investigation into an allegedly crooked game in the third tier of Australian football. Police will allege the men attempted to fix the match between Dandenong Thunder and Melbourne City's under-20 team in the National Premier Leagues second division on August 19, 2017. The match at Bundoora — City's home ground in Melbourne's north — finished 2-2. Within days, a police investigation was launched which resulted in players, officials and referees being interviewed. The focus of the investigation was the conduct of Dandenong Thunder.
Officials from the club declined multiple requests to speak with the ABC, which has been aware of the police investigation since late 2017. Former coaches who were employed by the club during the 2017 season were either shocked that the Thunder was being investigated, or declined to comment. Gianfranco Impellizzeri, the coach during the season, which ended with the club being promoted to the National Premier Leagues Victoria, denied all knowledge of the match fixing investigation when contacted by the ABC in May last year. The club won the NPL Victoria East title in the same season as the alleged match fixing.
The Victoria Police Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit, Purana Taskforce and Queensland Police Major and Organised Crime Squad, were involved in the investigation.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a 54-year-old from Essendon North has been charged on summons with engaging in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome, and facilitating conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome. He will appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on March 29. A 52-year-old from the Gold Coast has also been charged by Queensland Police with facilitating match fixing conduct. He will appear at Southport Magistrates' Court, also on March 29.
It is believed to be only the second time match fixing charges have been laid in relation to a football league in Australia. In 2013, multiple players and a coach at the Southern Stars, based in Melbourne's outer south-east, were charged with sports corruption offences. Those offences in the Victorian Premier League were linked to Wilson Raj Perumal, one of the world's most notorious match fixers. There is no suggestion the alleged offenders in the Thunder-City match are linked to similar international crime syndicates.
Social media is awash with allegations regarding the lower tiers of Australian soccer, including dozens of accounts which claim to have prior knowledge of thrown matches. But many of these accounts are suspected of being scams, designed to ensnare those keen to make a quick buck by offering a seemingly irresistible bet: gambling on a fixed match.
People with knowledge of the Dandenong Thunder investigation, who spoke to the ABC on condition of anonymity, described the alleged conduct as not "clear cut" match fixing, and said the complicated police probe involved a huge number of potential witnesses. The Thunder were 2-0 up after 12 minutes in the alleged fixed match, but City scored in the 27th and 55th minutes to draw 2-2. It was the second last match of the season, with the Thunder finishing on top of the table that season 20 points clear of City in third. As the Thunder has been assured of the title, given they were seven points clear of the second placed team before the match, there was no incentive for them to win. The match featured several big names in Australian soccer, including Melbourne City striker Daniel Arzani, and former Socceroo and then-Thunder defender Simon Colosimo. There is no suggestion any players involved in the match are alleged to have committed a sports corruption offence.
Source: By Nino Bucci, ABC Investigations and Jack Kerr, 25 February 2019, ABC News
Football
Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya: Ex-Sri Lanka captain banned after admitting corruption charges
Former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has been banned from cricket for two years after admitting two breaches of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code. The 49-year-old, who was charged in October, admitted failing to co-operate with an investigation and "concealing, tampering with or destroying evidence". It is part of a wider investigation into corruption in Sri Lankan cricket. Jayasuriya, who retired in 2012, is a former chairman of selectors.
"This conviction under the code demonstrates the importance of participants in cricket co-operating with investigations," said Alex Marshall, general manager of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit.
"Compelling participants to co-operate under the code is a vital weapon in our efforts to rid our sport of corruptors. These rules are essential to maintain the integrity of our sport."
Jayasuriya was player of the tournament when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996 and he scored 21 centuries and took 323 wickets in 445 one-day internationals. He also averaged 40.07 runs in 110 Test matches. The former government minister retired from international cricket in 2011, but continued playing Twenty20 matches until 2012. Jayasuriya was charged after he failed to provide a phone and SIM card to the investigation when requested to.
"It is clear that there were no corruption charges, betting charges or misuse of inside information charges levelled against me," he said in a statement.
"I decided to admit the said charges at the first instance for the love of the cricket, for the greater good and to protect the integrity of cricket.
"I reiterate the fact that I have always maintained a high degree of integrity throughout my cricketing career."
In September 2017, Marshall asked Jayasuriya to hand over any mobile phones after being "satisfied" they might contain information that could help with the wider investigation. Jayasuriya told investigators he had two phones and handed them over. The next day he recalled he had two other phones which had been "lost" after they fell from his pocket "in a grassy area somewhere in Colombo".
He then later admitted one of those phones was in fact deliberately "trashed" when he was under stress - however he did not know that the number had rung when investigators tried to call it. Jayasuriya then admitted his driver had recovered the SIM card from the destroyed phone and it was placed in another phone. He said he had continued to monitor the phone for text messages although he did not use it for calls. However he let his driver use it at weekends, which explained why it had rung when investigators tried it.
His lawyer told investigators: "This is only one mistake he has done. Whether it's a mistake or a lie, or being untruth or violation, you will have to decide."
In January, the ICC held an unprecedented 15-day amnesty as part of its investigation into corruption in Sri Lanka. Failure to report an approach, incident or information can result in a ban from cricket of up to five years, but those who came forward during the amnesty with information on corrupt conduct, which they had previously failed to report, would not be charged. The ICC said 11 players and "other participants" came forward with new information.
"I am very grateful to those who participated in the amnesty and, as a result of the information shared, we now have a much clearer picture of the situation in Sri Lanka and our investigations are continuing," added Marshall.
Source: 26 February 2019, BBC Sport
Cricket
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/47371282
Tanzania
FIFA bans Tanzanian ref Mbaga for match-fixing "several" internationals
February 27 – Yet another African referee has been banned for life for match-fixing in the latest sanction to heap ignominy on the credibility of the Continent’s officials.
FIFA has imposed the ban on Tanzania’s Oden Charles Mbaga for taking bribes. He was also fined CHF200 000 ($200 000).
Without giving details, FIFA says Mbaga breached the 2009 version of its code of ethics even though their investigation was opened only in July last year.
Mbaga has reportedly been linked to the world’s most notorious match-fixer Wilson Perumal whose schemes included rigging warmup games featuring South Africa before it hosted the 2010 World Cup.
Mbaga had been on FIFA’s international list of referees approved to handle national team games.
In a subsequent email to Reuters, FIFA said that Mbaga “accepted bribes to manipulate several national and international matches between 2009 and 2012.” It did not give any further details.
Mbaga told Reuters from Dar es Salaam that he was questioned by FIFA in 2010 but had not heard anything from them since and knew nothing about match-fixing.
“This is a shocking news to me. I don’t know anything about me being banned to participate football activities for life. I really don’t know this,” he said.
“I know FIFA was doing an investigation and the last time they came to interview me about the issue was in 2010. I told them openly that I don’t know anything about match-fixing and I have never heard anything from them since then. For now, I cannot say anything as I don’t have clear information.”
Last month, former international referee Ibrahim Chaibou from Niger was also banned for life and fined CHF 200,000.
Source: Andrew Warshaw, 27 February 2019, Inside World Football
Football
Zambia
FIFA bans Zambian official for bribery, match-fixing
ZURICH -- FIFA ethics judges have banned a Zambian soccer official for life for taking bribes to help fix matches. FIFA says Boniface Mwamelo "accepted bribes to manipulate several international matches in 2010." Mwamelo, the former vice president and treasurer of Zambia's soccer federation, was also fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000). It is unclear if Mwamelo was linked to Zambian involvement in previous match-fixing cases. Several Zambian players were convicted in court in Finland in 2011 for their part in a scam involving fixer Wilson Perumal of Singapore. FIFA later investigated the Zambian federation for allowing some of those players to take part in domestic games when they were suspended worldwide as a result of the Finnish case.
Source: Associated Press, 27 February 2019, Daily Herald
Football
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20190227/sports/302279930
LEGISLATION
Sri Lanka
Five-year prison sentence for match-fixers - Minister of Sports Harin Fernando
Local sportsmen and sportswomen tend to earn money by other means when they do not receive adequate funds, says the Minister of Sports Harin Fernando. The minister stated this addressing an event held to declare open the new building of Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency yesterday (28). He further said that new laws will be introduced to eradicate the frauds and corruption in the field of sports. The Sports Minister added that for the first time in Asia, Sri Lanka will establish new laws against match-fixing and that he intends to propose an Act to impose a five-year prison sentence and a minimum fine of Rs 5 million on anyone who engages in match-fixing.
Source: 1 March 2019, Adaderana
https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=53533
United States
New York Legislation Could Allow Sports Betting In Local Stadiums
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A sponsor of sports betting legislation in New York said the bill likely would allow for in-person wagering at places like Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden.
Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-89th) said Friday the legislation he announced this week is being tweaked and will have that provision unless he receives strong opposition.
“When people are betting on sports they want to be there,” the Westchester County Democrat told CBS2’s Ali Bauman. “It’s more exciting.”
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, also a Democrat, has taken a more cautious tone.
“To do it right, I think we need to do it in a very methodical manner,” Addabbo said. “I see sports betting being rolled out over a couple of years, to make sure we do it both legally and respecting the integrity of the sport, which is very important, and protecting the consumer. And then I would suggest we do roll it out to the stadiums and other venues at some point.”
The Supreme Court struck down a federal sports gambling ban last year. Since then, no stadiums or arenas in the eight states that have offered sports gambling have on-site betting operations. New Jersey, for example, restricts in-person gambling to casinos and racetracks.
Washington, D.C. approved gambling at stadiums and arenas in December, but it has yet to be implemented.
New York legislators only have to look one state to the west to see the revenue potential of sports gambling. In New Jersey, the state that mounted the successful legal challenge to the federal ban, gamblers bet $385 million on sports in January, which included about $305 million online or via mobile devices.
That helped Atlantic City’s nine casinos collectively post a revenue increase of nearly 20 percent over the same month a year earlier, before sports betting was legalized.
“All due respect to anybody from New Jersey out there,” Addabbo told the panel Friday. “We’re going to do it better. And bigger. We are New York.”
Pretlow estimates $10 billion is currently being wagered illegally in New York every year, and believes legalizing and taxing it could bring the state about $400 million in revenue annually.
“We remain excited about the positive impact legalized sports gaming has on consumer engagement and there are several areas, such as on-site gaming, we’d like to explore with the State and our league partners,” The Madison Square Garden Company told CBS2 on Friday.
Pretlow hopes to finish the bill and bring it to the assembly by next month. The governor’s office did not respond to CBS2’s request for comment, but earlier this year Cuomo said he was in favor of legalizing sports betting in casinos upstate.
Source: © Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report., 1 March 2019, CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/03/01/new-york-sports-betting-in-stadiums/
ODDS AND ENDS
Cameroon
Nwora blasts Cameroon Basketball Federation over match-fixing allegations
Nigeria Senior Men’s Basketball team Head Coach Alex Nwora says he’s ready to sue the Cameroon Basketball Federation (FECABASKET) if they accuse the D’Tigers of deliberately losing to Ivory Coast to aid their World Cup qualification.
The Cameroonians Basketball Governing Body accused Nigeria of match-fixing after the team lost to Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal in the World Cup qualifiers, a result that has no implications on D’Tigers as they are already through to the World Cup, but it did prove vital for the Ivorians as they reach the World Cup at the expense of the Cameroonians.
According to a statement issued by the Nigerian Basketball Federation, Nwora hit out at the FECABASKET for the allegations and said his players are professionals who shouldn’t be held responsible for Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the World Cup.
“If such is coming from Cameroon that is hypocrisy. Instead of employing average coaches, they should have gone for the best. They have a very good coach who I know very well, he is one of the best coaches and I learn most of the stuff from him.”
“I wanted to go undefeated, make history for my country. Do you how much Nigeria has for Cameroon to insinuate that we came here to sell a game? How much are they going to pay us? Who will pay us to sell a game?”
“These are professional players who make money. If they want to do something right, they should not blame their stupidity on these kids and Nigeria because these guys are professional.”
“If anybody is trying to question my integrity, my country and the people that I represent, that is an insult and this is the last time I want to hear that. If my name comes in, I will sue Cameroon or whoever does that.”
Source: Seyi Alao, 1 March 2019, Brila
Basketball
https://www.brila.net/nwora-blasts-cameroon-basketball-federation-over-match-fixing-allegations/
Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (European Commission)
Mapping of corruption in sport in the EU
The Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) of the European Commission commissioned Ecorys in July 2018 to undertake a mapping review of sport and corruption across the EU28. Recent high profile cases of corruption in sport have shown the potential damage corruption cases can cause to sport’s reputation for integrity and fair play. Corruption has been shown to manifest in varying contexts ranging from non-profit community-based activities through to activities involving high profile international events. In addition to traditional forms of corruption, particular types of corruption such as match fixing, spot fixing and doping are unique to the industry. The complex and multidimensional nature of corruption in sport has created significant challenges for sport management and policy makers in identifying where the problems lie and developing actions to safeguard the integrity of sport globally. The key objective of this small-scale research study has been to complete a mapping review of the types of corruption that exist in different EU Member States, if/how they are dealt with at national and/or international level and what kind of legal instruments exist to deal with them and minimise potential risks. The study has sought to provide the European Commission with adequate knowledge of existing initiatives in order to identify where best to focus its efforts – and those of the Member States – in the years to come.
Source: 1 March 2019, Publications Office of the European Union https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/71c67c33-1dff-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
France
Scandal in France: Marseille tried "buying" referees, PSG were given drugs
The collaborator of former Marseille president Bernard Tapie has revealed that he had once been in a meeting to "buy" a referee and has opened up about giving drugs to Paris Saint-Germain players. Tapie has become a much-criticized figure in France over the last few decades and claims in the 1990s said that he was involved in match-fixing before the club was stripped off their French League title. Tapie's former collaborator Marc Fratani was recently talking to Le Monde and he made many shocking claims about his tenure. He said: "Tapie is a person who knows no limits. To get to the bottom, he was capable of doing everything. I once attended a meeting to buy a referee, it was for a game against PSG in Paris. "In that game, we also conditioned the opponent with a drug: Haldol. We added it using syringes with an ultra-thin needle. We injected it into plastic bottles, and everything that was consumable by the adversary was treated with it." The period of 1986 to 1996 under Tapie is known to be one of the gilded ones in the history of the club. They even beat AC Milan in the European Cup final of 1993.
Source: 3 March 2019, Calciomercato
Football
India
IPL 2019 News: BCCI to no longer hire ICC’s Anti-Corruption Services
BCCI to no longer hire ICC’s Anti-Corruption Services: The Indian board will employ its own corruption unit for IPL 2019.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to discontinue the services of International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit’s services for the 12th season of the Indian Premier League.
In what has come as a major development, it will end a decade-long tie between the IPL and ASCU which was commenced to keep a check on both the players’ off-field and on-field activities.
In a recent interview with The Indian Express, Chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators Vinod Rai both confirmed the news and also named the replacement.
“We have decided to discontinue ICC ACSU wing from this season onward. We have been hiring ICC’s ACSU services for the past ten years now. Why should we not hire our own people?” Rai was quoted as saying.
It is believed that the BCCI had to pay INR 3.1 crore every year to hire services from the ICC. Rai cited financial concern as a primary reason behind discontinuing the deal with the ICC’s ASCU.
“There was no logic, because we are paying 10 per cent [to India ACU officer] of what we are paying to them [ICC ACSU]. Why should we not hire our own people, why should we hire other people?” he added.
A few days ago, BCCI had announced that the fixtures for IPL 2019 will be released in parts. With the first part of the schedule being released the same day, it has come as a respite for the plentiful stakeholders and fans of the cash-rich league.
Slated to begin on March 23, the first match of IPL 2019 will be played between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai.
Source: 3 March 2019, The Sports Rush
Cricket
https://thesportsrush.com/ipl-2019-news-bcci-to-no-longer-hire-iccs-anti-corruption-services/
Malaysia
Malaysia club Batu Dua FC denies match fixing following emphatic 17-1 win
Following a convincing 17-1 victory in the Shopee FA Cup, Batu Dua FC have responded following suggestions that there could have been match fixing involved. Going up against Rawang City FC, Batu Dua were relentless and eventually won with a 16-goal margin with Manaf Mamat scoring six goals on the night. Amidst speculations of match fixing, Batu Dua manager Nazri Sahid spoke on the matter. According to reports, he said: “No, I can confirm there were no elements of match-fixing involved in our 17-1 win in the qualifier on Sunday. My players gave their best and the goals just kept coming. “With a budget of RM100,000, we hope to do well in the FA Cup and also win the M3 League.” Malaysia Football League chief executive Kevin Ramalingam also spoke to deny the claims, saying: “17-1 does not mean there are elements of match-fixing involved, as scores of 1-0 and 2-1 have also proven to be fixed before, and the number of goals does not count. “I believe when an amateur team meets a stronger side, scores like this are possible.”
Source: 20 February 2019, Fox Sports
Football
Thailand
Thai League 1: Ratchaburi general manager calls match fixing following loss to Port FC
Ratchaburi Mitr Phol suffered a 1-0 loss to Port FC in the Thai League 1 and Ratchaburi General Manager Robert Procureur did not mince words on why he believe his team lost. In the match played at PAT Stadium, Procureur believes that the referee had already decided the match before it took place as many incidents led to Ratchaburi losing. Among the multiple things the Belgian pointed out was that players Sumanya and Boli were given yellow cards when the former kicked the latter in the head – which should have resulted in a red card instead of a caution. Another thing he mentioned was that there were many instances where Ratchaburi should’ve been given a penalty but were ignored by the referee.
Source: 4 March 2019, Fox Sports Asia
Football
CORRUPTION
United States
NCAA "aggressively" seeking information in federal hoops corruption case
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA is weighing whether to submit a legal filing asking the federal government for access to more of the information that has been gathered in the U.S. Attorney's investigation into corruption in college basketball, NCAA executive vice president and chief legal officer Donald Remy told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday.
Remy confirmed that, at present, NCAA enforcement representatives have not been privy to prosecutors' information beyond what was publicly presented last October in the first of three scheduled federal trials. That documentation, testimony and electronic surveillance, which was part of the federal prosecution of Adidas executive Jim Gatto, Adidas consultant Merl Code Jr. and agent-runner Christian Dawkins, represented just a fraction of the evidence collected by the government. Remy said the NCAA will seek some of the additional information via federal court as part of the association's follow-up inquiry into the sprawling scandal exposed by federal authorities in September 2017.
"We're actively trying to get that information which we don't presently have access to," Remy said. "We're contemplating asking the court to give us access to additional information that hasn't yet been presented publicly, the documents and the exhibits [that] haven't been presented in the courtroom in a way that would provide us or the public with access to that information.
"There's two more trials coming up where there will be information, presumably assuming those trials occur. What we'd like to do is have [information] at our disposal to make judgments about whether or not it is relevant to our rules and whether or not those rules have been violated."
Remy and vice president of enforcement Jon Duncan stressed that while the NCAA has been limited in its ability to dive into full-bore investigative mode due to the ongoing federal investigation — the second trial is scheduled to start in April, and the third in June — they are ready and willing to do so when verdicts have been reached and sentences handed down.
"We're not sitting on our hands," Remy said. "We've been aggressively asking for data and information that might be useful to our process. Since the beginning. I say all that, but then I want to reiterate that we don't want to do anything that interferes with their ability to prosecute those cases. That's the position we've taken from the beginning as well."
There's a trove of information that's been under protective order since the initial charges were issued in September of 2017. Those include 4,000 intercepted phone calls from 330 days of monitoring, many of them from Dawkins. (He, Gatto and Code were found guilty of felony fraud charges in the October trial and are awaiting sentencing.)
The general feeling has been that the information that didn't arise publicly in court would be sealed in perpetuity, and Duncan underscored that the information would not be easily accessed. "The FBI is not going to back up to the loading dock and unload their stuff," Duncan said.
Remy added that the NCAA also has begun reaching out to the defense attorneys in the case to see if they could access relevant information that way.
"One of the things we've recently done is to reach out to the defendants' counsel," he said. "Again, demonstrating that we're aggressively trying to gather information that might be relevant to our work, to see whether or not they could provide some information that would be helpful."
The NCAA wouldn't estimate a timeframe for the investigation. But they are operating with the understanding that they can't fully begin their process, which customarily is lengthy, until the federal process ends.
"I don't know what inning we're in, I don't know what quarter we're in," Remy said. "To your point, we've got a couple of trials coming up this spring. Maybe that's the fourth quarter in the end of this."
Source: Pat Forde and Pete Thamel, 27 February 2019, Yahoo! Sports
Basketball
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