Sports Gambling Corruption
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What is the issue?
Sport consists of a contest between individuals or teams who agree to compete by the same rules. The uncertainty of the outcome is an essential part of sport’s attraction, separating it from arts and other entertainment.
If the result is pre-determined (or at least one of aspect of the contest), the integrity of sport is lost and with it a large part of its meaning and appeal for fans.
Match-fixing is therefore a major threat to sport. There are two different motives for match-fixing, both with ancient origins. Firstly, sport may be fixed for sporting reasons: bribes may be paid or other inducements offered to encourage one individual or team to lose a particular contest. Secondly, people may try to make money through gambling on a contest in which they know the outcome before it takes place because they have fixed the result.
Many people believe that the advent of online gambling has increased the risk of match-fixing for financial gain. It is possible to bet from one country on a minor league in a far off land. The huge scale of the global gambling industry (legal and illegal) is attractive to organised crime and the range of the types of bets available potentially increases the value of inside information. Globalisation also plays a role – criminals seeking to fix matches can connect and meet with athletes, coaches and officials from all over the world.
Definitions
The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (2014) defines the manipulation of sports competitions as:
“An intentional arrangement, act or omission aimed at an improper alteration of the result or the course of a sports competition in order to remove all or part of the unpredictable nature of the aforementioned sports competition with a view to obtaining an undue advantage for oneself or for others.”
The definition therefore encompasses efforts to alter the course of an event (so-called “spot fixing”) as well as the overall result. Both match-fixing for sporting reasons and for financial gain are included.
The status of match manipulation in law is a complex issue and varies by country. What is the response?
While match-fixing scandals date back to the earliest days of sport, the current focus on tackling the threat of match-fixing dates back to the years soon after 2000 with high-profile cases in sports including football, cricket and tennis.
The IOC now has its own strategy in place for the prevention of manipulation of competitions, based on three pillars:
a) regulations and legislation
b) awareness raising and capacity building
c) intelligence and investigations.
A number of sports at international and national level have set up their own integrity teams. Perhaps the most widely known one is the Tennis Integrity Unit (2008), established as a joint initiative between the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA and the Grand Slam Board. The Tennis Integrity Unit operates independently, receiving most of its alerts from regulatory commissions and betting companies. It has powers to investigate and to impose sanctions.
Gambling versus non-gambling corruption Match-fixing comes in two prominent conceptualizations. Gambling-related match fixing occurs where an individual or group seeks to manipulate a result in order to win a wager themselves or to assist others to win a wager. The issue of corruption in sports betting has evolved from the fixing of races/matches to the increased targeting of vulnerable gamblers. The globalised nature of online gambling also means criminals can run their operations from far away, as evidenced by the scandal which swept the Canadian football league.
In 2017, the Athletics Integrity Unit was set up. Like the Tennis Integrity Unit, it also operates independently from the international federation with delegated authority.
The threat of match manipulation has also been recognised by governments and international institutions.
An example of a response at national level is the Sports Betting Group, established in the UK by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Group brings together representatives from across sport to provide leadership and to share good practice to address the risks from sports betting corruption. It has published a Code of Practice for governing bodies.
The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (2014) contains detailed measures to be implemented by member states both within Europe and potentially beyond. The Convention deals with prevention, detection, and sanctioning of match manipulation in relation to sports competitions. It aims to enhance the exchange of information as well as collaboration among national and international authorities concerned, sports organisations, and other relevant actors such as bookmakers. While the Convention was adopted in 2014, the process of ratification is taking some time.
In 2015, the IOC adopted the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions. The purpose of the Code is to define and harmonise match manipulation standards, disciplinary procedures and sanctions, across National Olympic Committees, International Federations, their members, and other IOC recognised organisations. The Code is compliant with the Council of Europe Convention.
A small industry has developed to provide services to sports bodies to help them reduce the risk of match manipulation. For example, organisations such as Sportradar and Genius Sports provide monitoring, prevention and education services to sports rights-holders and public authorities.
There has also been recognition that the format of sporting competitions should be adjusted to ensure that they do not unintentionally incentivise match manipulation. As an example, the risk of round-robin formats in some sports competitions is now well understood, where an individual or team may prefer to lose or draw the final game to secure a specific match-up in the next round. I Trust Sport view
Match-fixing corruption in sport related to gambling is a fundamental, worldwide threat to the future of professional sport. While the issue of match-fixing is acknowledged throughout the sports movement and new education programmes and other measures have sprung up, there is still much work to be done.
I Trust Sport believes that these are some of the current priorities for tackling match manipulation:
* More international co-operation and information sharing is needed between governments, law enforcement, sports bodies and the gambling industry
*The Council of Europe Convention has already had a positive impact but formal ratification and implementation would accelerate progress in several priority areas
* General good governance is an important component of fight against match-fixing, whether motivated by gambling or sporting objectives. For example, if players are paid on time it reduces the vulnerability of athletes to approaches by potential fixers. Similarly, sports competitions can be structured in such a way that they do not incentivise losing or under-performing.
* Monitoring is now in place in most major leagues and sports to check for suspicious betting patterns, particularly in high risk sports such as football, cricket and tennis. It should continue and evolve as the technology and understanding of the risks develop.
* The legal status of the corruption of sports results varies considerably by market, making prosecutions difficult, especially across borders. The ultimate goal should be harmonising legislation.
* The gambling industry will need to pay a significant share of the costs of tacking match-fixing. There is an argument for reallocating a portion of the taxes which betting companies already pay, at least in some markets.
Please note that this is a summary of a complex topic and is not intended to be fully comprehensive. Feel free to contact us with any comments on the material above.
See also I Trust Sport’s resources page.
Updated December 2018.
This is the first in a two-part series at Legal Sports Reportthat explores match-fixing; what it is, how it happens, and what can be done to prevent it. Part I focuses on types of match-fixing and discusses some common threads across match-fixing cases. Part II looks at some recent US match-fixing incidents and discusses how match-fixers induce cooperation. Part two is here.
Fears over match-fixing have served as a common argument in opposition to the expansion of sports betting by the major professional sports leagues and the NCAA, with references often made to the 1919 World Series fix. While mob figure Arnold Rothstein always denied fixing the Fall Classic, his penchant for gambling and fixing horse races has seen him convicted by the jury of history.
There has been a long history of fixing in the US, with legislation occasionally following high profile incidents. With PASPA falling at the stroke of Justice Samuel Alito’s pen, this marks the beginning of a new era. For the first-time, sports gambling will be legal and likely widely available across the United States.
Match fixing persists across sport; it is perhaps one unifying bond across virtually every sport. Match-fixing incidents have been alleged in sports from badminton to Formula 1. Recently, an independent review panel found a “tsunami of corruption” in lower levels of professional tennis.
Bloomberg noted that the report found one of the causes is a data deal between Sportradar (Sportradar US, a subsidiary of Sportradar, is an official data partner of the NFL, NBA, and NHL), and the International Tennis Federation. The internet has made it possible for data regarding even low-level tennis matches to be streamed to betting sites at near instantaneous speed.
It is unknown whether a legal betting market in the US will embolden match-fixers, but what is known is that in a legal and regulated market there are additional tools for fighting the scourge because incentives are available to encourage cooperation of witnesses and resources are available to enable law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation.Sports Gambling Corruption DefinitionDefining the terms of sports integrity
Here’s a look at some key words and phrases when considering the integrity of sports:Match fixing
Match fixing is a broad term that incorporates a number of different activities that result in the manipulation of some aspect of a game, including the end result.
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines match-fixing as: “dishonest activity to make sure that one team wins a particular sports match.” This definition is far too narrow and does not encapsulate all the ways of manipulating a contest. As match-fixing can include:Point shaving
Point shaving is often used as a means of approaching impressionable match-fixing marks, because in a point-shaving scheme, the objective of the fix is to lose by less than the point-spread not to lose the game itself. The fact that the team does not need to lose the game can be psychologically and morally enticing to certain players who may feel an obligation to teammates or coaches not to lose, but are able to justify shaving points because they are still able to put a ‘W’ on the board.Tanking
Tanking in the match-fixing context can be distinguished from the “trust the process” version of tanking that has become a seemingly legitimate model of franchise building in the NBA. However, the two types of tanking are not totally unrelated.
Tanking in the match-fixing context is generally described as a player or team intentionally putting in a sub-par effort. Though tanking sounds sinister in nature, it can sometimes be advantageous for players depending on tournament structures. This quirk was the case at the 2012 Summer Olympics when eight badminton players were disqualified for tanking.Spot fixing
Spot fixing occurs when a player seeks to manipulate a specific event in a sporting event. This type of fixing has frequently been linked to various popular, but often insignificant events within a game, in-play betting opportunities can make spot-fixing lucrative and often difficult to detect. Wagers accepted on things that are easily controlled by players — like the number of throw-ins, corner kicks, or pies eaten by goalies — are fertile ground for fixers.Gambling versus non-gambling corruption
Match-fixing comes in two prominent conceptualizations.
Gambling-related match fixing occurs where an individual or group seeks to manipulate a result in order to win a wager themselves or to assist others to win a wager. This type of behavior can have a significant cost for not only books, but for honest bettors who are not in on the fix.
Non-gambling related fixing can occur for a variety of reasons. Often tournament structures, or tournament schedules may incentivize a player to reduce effort in order to receive a more favorable match-up at a later time or obtain additional rest before a more lucrative tournament in coming days.How does match fixing happen?
Dr. Declan Hill, of the University of Wuerzberg, is likely the foremost academic expert on match fixing, having spent time around various match-fixing operations while earning his Ph.D. from Oxford.
Hill found that match-fixing seems to flourish under three very specific conditions.Sports Betting Corruption
*The first condition that match-fixing tends to gestate in is where there are vast illegal gambling markets. These markets are often networked through international criminal syndicates.
*The second factor that leads to an increase in match-fixing incidents is poor wages to players and referees. Poor wages provide a fertile ground for match fixers to take advantage of players who lack the resources to provide for their needs.
*The third and final factor, which Hill linked to increases in match fixing was a perception that a league was corrupt. A perception of corruption or the perception that a league or players are open to corrupt activities can create something of a self-fulfilling prophecy for would-be match fixers. Is the US susceptible?
If we do a little back of the envelope math involving Hill’s three factors, there is a potential problem for one American sports entity in particular.
While it remains to be seen how much of the illegal gambling market will be swallowed by the disinfecting sunshine of legalization, at present there is a vast illegal betting market with a value in even the most bearish estimates in the tens of billions. Most leagues do not have an issue with poorly compensating players, or referees, with even Major League Soccer players averaging $160,000 per year. Sports Gambling Corruption Against
Of course, the outlier is the NCAA, who does not allow for direct compensation beyond tuition and grants in aid. This could leave NCAA athletes particularly vulnerable to match fixers, especially if they were to come into a time of financial hardship. The final factor, is whether there is a perception of corruption regarding the league. This is likely a matter of debate, though there is certainly some anecdotal support that some leagues or organizations may treat players more fairly than others.Sports Gambling Corruption Articles
In Part II of this series, we will take a look at how some of the more recent corruption incidents in the US have unfolded, what the consequences were, and the lessons learned.
Register here: http://gg.gg/xduz8
https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
What is the issue?
Sport consists of a contest between individuals or teams who agree to compete by the same rules. The uncertainty of the outcome is an essential part of sport’s attraction, separating it from arts and other entertainment.
If the result is pre-determined (or at least one of aspect of the contest), the integrity of sport is lost and with it a large part of its meaning and appeal for fans.
Match-fixing is therefore a major threat to sport. There are two different motives for match-fixing, both with ancient origins. Firstly, sport may be fixed for sporting reasons: bribes may be paid or other inducements offered to encourage one individual or team to lose a particular contest. Secondly, people may try to make money through gambling on a contest in which they know the outcome before it takes place because they have fixed the result.
Many people believe that the advent of online gambling has increased the risk of match-fixing for financial gain. It is possible to bet from one country on a minor league in a far off land. The huge scale of the global gambling industry (legal and illegal) is attractive to organised crime and the range of the types of bets available potentially increases the value of inside information. Globalisation also plays a role – criminals seeking to fix matches can connect and meet with athletes, coaches and officials from all over the world.
Definitions
The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (2014) defines the manipulation of sports competitions as:
“An intentional arrangement, act or omission aimed at an improper alteration of the result or the course of a sports competition in order to remove all or part of the unpredictable nature of the aforementioned sports competition with a view to obtaining an undue advantage for oneself or for others.”
The definition therefore encompasses efforts to alter the course of an event (so-called “spot fixing”) as well as the overall result. Both match-fixing for sporting reasons and for financial gain are included.
The status of match manipulation in law is a complex issue and varies by country. What is the response?
While match-fixing scandals date back to the earliest days of sport, the current focus on tackling the threat of match-fixing dates back to the years soon after 2000 with high-profile cases in sports including football, cricket and tennis.
The IOC now has its own strategy in place for the prevention of manipulation of competitions, based on three pillars:
a) regulations and legislation
b) awareness raising and capacity building
c) intelligence and investigations.
A number of sports at international and national level have set up their own integrity teams. Perhaps the most widely known one is the Tennis Integrity Unit (2008), established as a joint initiative between the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA and the Grand Slam Board. The Tennis Integrity Unit operates independently, receiving most of its alerts from regulatory commissions and betting companies. It has powers to investigate and to impose sanctions.
Gambling versus non-gambling corruption Match-fixing comes in two prominent conceptualizations. Gambling-related match fixing occurs where an individual or group seeks to manipulate a result in order to win a wager themselves or to assist others to win a wager. The issue of corruption in sports betting has evolved from the fixing of races/matches to the increased targeting of vulnerable gamblers. The globalised nature of online gambling also means criminals can run their operations from far away, as evidenced by the scandal which swept the Canadian football league.
In 2017, the Athletics Integrity Unit was set up. Like the Tennis Integrity Unit, it also operates independently from the international federation with delegated authority.
The threat of match manipulation has also been recognised by governments and international institutions.
An example of a response at national level is the Sports Betting Group, established in the UK by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Group brings together representatives from across sport to provide leadership and to share good practice to address the risks from sports betting corruption. It has published a Code of Practice for governing bodies.
The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (2014) contains detailed measures to be implemented by member states both within Europe and potentially beyond. The Convention deals with prevention, detection, and sanctioning of match manipulation in relation to sports competitions. It aims to enhance the exchange of information as well as collaboration among national and international authorities concerned, sports organisations, and other relevant actors such as bookmakers. While the Convention was adopted in 2014, the process of ratification is taking some time.
In 2015, the IOC adopted the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions. The purpose of the Code is to define and harmonise match manipulation standards, disciplinary procedures and sanctions, across National Olympic Committees, International Federations, their members, and other IOC recognised organisations. The Code is compliant with the Council of Europe Convention.
A small industry has developed to provide services to sports bodies to help them reduce the risk of match manipulation. For example, organisations such as Sportradar and Genius Sports provide monitoring, prevention and education services to sports rights-holders and public authorities.
There has also been recognition that the format of sporting competitions should be adjusted to ensure that they do not unintentionally incentivise match manipulation. As an example, the risk of round-robin formats in some sports competitions is now well understood, where an individual or team may prefer to lose or draw the final game to secure a specific match-up in the next round. I Trust Sport view
Match-fixing corruption in sport related to gambling is a fundamental, worldwide threat to the future of professional sport. While the issue of match-fixing is acknowledged throughout the sports movement and new education programmes and other measures have sprung up, there is still much work to be done.
I Trust Sport believes that these are some of the current priorities for tackling match manipulation:
* More international co-operation and information sharing is needed between governments, law enforcement, sports bodies and the gambling industry
*The Council of Europe Convention has already had a positive impact but formal ratification and implementation would accelerate progress in several priority areas
* General good governance is an important component of fight against match-fixing, whether motivated by gambling or sporting objectives. For example, if players are paid on time it reduces the vulnerability of athletes to approaches by potential fixers. Similarly, sports competitions can be structured in such a way that they do not incentivise losing or under-performing.
* Monitoring is now in place in most major leagues and sports to check for suspicious betting patterns, particularly in high risk sports such as football, cricket and tennis. It should continue and evolve as the technology and understanding of the risks develop.
* The legal status of the corruption of sports results varies considerably by market, making prosecutions difficult, especially across borders. The ultimate goal should be harmonising legislation.
* The gambling industry will need to pay a significant share of the costs of tacking match-fixing. There is an argument for reallocating a portion of the taxes which betting companies already pay, at least in some markets.
Please note that this is a summary of a complex topic and is not intended to be fully comprehensive. Feel free to contact us with any comments on the material above.
See also I Trust Sport’s resources page.
Updated December 2018.
This is the first in a two-part series at Legal Sports Reportthat explores match-fixing; what it is, how it happens, and what can be done to prevent it. Part I focuses on types of match-fixing and discusses some common threads across match-fixing cases. Part II looks at some recent US match-fixing incidents and discusses how match-fixers induce cooperation. Part two is here.
Fears over match-fixing have served as a common argument in opposition to the expansion of sports betting by the major professional sports leagues and the NCAA, with references often made to the 1919 World Series fix. While mob figure Arnold Rothstein always denied fixing the Fall Classic, his penchant for gambling and fixing horse races has seen him convicted by the jury of history.
There has been a long history of fixing in the US, with legislation occasionally following high profile incidents. With PASPA falling at the stroke of Justice Samuel Alito’s pen, this marks the beginning of a new era. For the first-time, sports gambling will be legal and likely widely available across the United States.
Match fixing persists across sport; it is perhaps one unifying bond across virtually every sport. Match-fixing incidents have been alleged in sports from badminton to Formula 1. Recently, an independent review panel found a “tsunami of corruption” in lower levels of professional tennis.
Bloomberg noted that the report found one of the causes is a data deal between Sportradar (Sportradar US, a subsidiary of Sportradar, is an official data partner of the NFL, NBA, and NHL), and the International Tennis Federation. The internet has made it possible for data regarding even low-level tennis matches to be streamed to betting sites at near instantaneous speed.
It is unknown whether a legal betting market in the US will embolden match-fixers, but what is known is that in a legal and regulated market there are additional tools for fighting the scourge because incentives are available to encourage cooperation of witnesses and resources are available to enable law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation.Sports Gambling Corruption DefinitionDefining the terms of sports integrity
Here’s a look at some key words and phrases when considering the integrity of sports:Match fixing
Match fixing is a broad term that incorporates a number of different activities that result in the manipulation of some aspect of a game, including the end result.
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines match-fixing as: “dishonest activity to make sure that one team wins a particular sports match.” This definition is far too narrow and does not encapsulate all the ways of manipulating a contest. As match-fixing can include:Point shaving
Point shaving is often used as a means of approaching impressionable match-fixing marks, because in a point-shaving scheme, the objective of the fix is to lose by less than the point-spread not to lose the game itself. The fact that the team does not need to lose the game can be psychologically and morally enticing to certain players who may feel an obligation to teammates or coaches not to lose, but are able to justify shaving points because they are still able to put a ‘W’ on the board.Tanking
Tanking in the match-fixing context can be distinguished from the “trust the process” version of tanking that has become a seemingly legitimate model of franchise building in the NBA. However, the two types of tanking are not totally unrelated.
Tanking in the match-fixing context is generally described as a player or team intentionally putting in a sub-par effort. Though tanking sounds sinister in nature, it can sometimes be advantageous for players depending on tournament structures. This quirk was the case at the 2012 Summer Olympics when eight badminton players were disqualified for tanking.Spot fixing
Spot fixing occurs when a player seeks to manipulate a specific event in a sporting event. This type of fixing has frequently been linked to various popular, but often insignificant events within a game, in-play betting opportunities can make spot-fixing lucrative and often difficult to detect. Wagers accepted on things that are easily controlled by players — like the number of throw-ins, corner kicks, or pies eaten by goalies — are fertile ground for fixers.Gambling versus non-gambling corruption
Match-fixing comes in two prominent conceptualizations.
Gambling-related match fixing occurs where an individual or group seeks to manipulate a result in order to win a wager themselves or to assist others to win a wager. This type of behavior can have a significant cost for not only books, but for honest bettors who are not in on the fix.
Non-gambling related fixing can occur for a variety of reasons. Often tournament structures, or tournament schedules may incentivize a player to reduce effort in order to receive a more favorable match-up at a later time or obtain additional rest before a more lucrative tournament in coming days.How does match fixing happen?
Dr. Declan Hill, of the University of Wuerzberg, is likely the foremost academic expert on match fixing, having spent time around various match-fixing operations while earning his Ph.D. from Oxford.
Hill found that match-fixing seems to flourish under three very specific conditions.Sports Betting Corruption
*The first condition that match-fixing tends to gestate in is where there are vast illegal gambling markets. These markets are often networked through international criminal syndicates.
*The second factor that leads to an increase in match-fixing incidents is poor wages to players and referees. Poor wages provide a fertile ground for match fixers to take advantage of players who lack the resources to provide for their needs.
*The third and final factor, which Hill linked to increases in match fixing was a perception that a league was corrupt. A perception of corruption or the perception that a league or players are open to corrupt activities can create something of a self-fulfilling prophecy for would-be match fixers. Is the US susceptible?
If we do a little back of the envelope math involving Hill’s three factors, there is a potential problem for one American sports entity in particular.
While it remains to be seen how much of the illegal gambling market will be swallowed by the disinfecting sunshine of legalization, at present there is a vast illegal betting market with a value in even the most bearish estimates in the tens of billions. Most leagues do not have an issue with poorly compensating players, or referees, with even Major League Soccer players averaging $160,000 per year. Sports Gambling Corruption Against
Of course, the outlier is the NCAA, who does not allow for direct compensation beyond tuition and grants in aid. This could leave NCAA athletes particularly vulnerable to match fixers, especially if they were to come into a time of financial hardship. The final factor, is whether there is a perception of corruption regarding the league. This is likely a matter of debate, though there is certainly some anecdotal support that some leagues or organizations may treat players more fairly than others.Sports Gambling Corruption Articles
In Part II of this series, we will take a look at how some of the more recent corruption incidents in the US have unfolded, what the consequences were, and the lessons learned.
Register here: http://gg.gg/xduz8
https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
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