Match-Fixing: An Overview and Review of Different Sports
Introduction
2011 witnessed an extraordinary mobilization in the world of sports to battle the expansive threat posed by syndicates manipulating matches to profit themselves, tainting the Sport's image. It's one-of-a-kind meeting on combating these vices in Sport, convened on March 1, 2011, established the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the campaign's leader. A few months later, FIFA announced it would allocate $20 million to aid in the battle against manipulated games, primarily through establishing a cooperative framework with Interpol in Singapore. UEFA and other major sports federations have taken proactive measures to eliminate corruption as a possible danger to the sports business. (Prevention of Competition Manipulation, n.d.)
This widespread comprehension results from scandals, frauds, rumors, and court probes spanning numerous fields in numerous nations. There seems to be an uptick in incidences of sports fraud, most notably match-fixing, which poses a danger to the integrity of the sporting experience unless significant actions are taken to counteract corruption, popular and motivating qualities such as the wonderful uncertainty of Sport, and the image of athletes as honest and upright are at risk of being harmed.
Match-fixing in Sport
By manipulating a specific outcome or consequence, anybody from rivals to teams to sports agents to support personnel to referees, officials, and even venue staff can be implicated in match-fixing. Match fixing is a persistent problem that endangers sports in terms of their fair play, public image, and overall social benefit. Multiple people, including coaches, players, and even referees, might be involved in fixing a match. Match fixing can also manifest as referee bias that is done on purpose and can occur on various margins, known as "proposition bets" in the betting industry.
The advent of match-fixing is a major challenge to sports' credibility, economic value, and social status worldwide. Since Sport is built on mutually agreed-upon rules and fair play, match-fixing strikes at its core. Most of the time, people engage in match-fixing and game manipulation for financial or personal benefit.
If the public and sports authorities do not combat fraud, Sports will eventually fade out, as has happened in various Asian and Eastern European countries (OECD, 2009). Corruption can be fatal to a sport because it removes the element of surprise that draws fans to events and keeps them coming back for more. When the public loses interest in games that are fixed, sponsors stop supporting them, the media stops covering them, and teams go out of business.
The 1990s saw a heyday for the South East Asia championships when rampant corruption and match manipulation led to empty stadiums and the flight of investors. In April 2011, the tournament played the inaugural games of the league with little fanfare because the league's primary sponsor and TV broadcaster declined to renew their contracts following a new case of corruption that culminated in the arrest of numerous executives of the federation. Something very like this happened in the Balkans(OECD, 2009).
Some examples of actions that constitute match-fixing and competition manipulation are as follows:
Activities taken to eliminate or considerably minimize the role of chance in determining the outcome of a game, a play within a game, a point spread, or any other aspect of a match intentional underperformance on the part of athletes.
match forfeiture for fictitious reasons
attempts or successes in influencing a sports official to change a game's outcome
malicious rule interpretation by a sports official
interfering with the game, gear, or environment
Betting or making a wager on a match using false or misleading information obtained through illegal means.
Approximately 300-700 events per year can be suspected of being rigged globally since 2010, according to a recent analysis in 2014 (ICSS and Sorbonne Release Match-Fixing Report, n.d.). The following article describes the problem of match-fixing in several different sports, including football, baseball, cricket, darts, and tennis, and explains why and how to fix it.
Corruption and Sports betting as ingredients of match-fixing
The media constantly reports on new claims of match rigging, demonstrating the pervasive nature of corruption and betting in sports. Betting large amounts of money on sporting events with the potential for large payouts is possible through sports betting agencies.
Betting on sporting events is big business, and it's become a crucial way to make money from predetermined outcomes. The European Gaming and Betting Association estimates that regulated betting would top $70 billion in 2016, with football (soccer) accounting for between 70 and 85 percent of all bets (Deutscher et al., 2017). Because they have so much power over games yet are paid so little, referees are a prime target for corruption in match-rigging economic models. Keep in mind that while betting can be a fun hobby, engaging in illegal or fraudulent betting is not. It has major ramifications for sports at all levels and typically involves interactions between gamblers, players, team officials, or referees.
Match fixers can easily and profitably affect the outcomes of sporting events by trading on betting exchange markets, which are convenient and extremely liquid. Refs have been shown to have been complicit in match manipulation situations in the past. Fixing a match can be done in various ways and could involve many people, including team executives, coaching staff, players, and even officials.
Since the proliferation of online gambling, match-fixing for financial gain has become more of a possibility. It's feasible to wager on a lower-tier league in another country. Crime syndicates are also enticed by the size of the global gambling business (both legal and illicit), which is enormous, and by the variety of bets offered, which could boost the value of inside knowledge. Because of globalization, criminals may now meet with athletes, coaches, and officials worldwide to manipulate contests. An annual turnover of €1.69 trillion is estimated to be the size of the worldwide sports betting market. More than 60 percent of this industry is attributed to football. Asian bookies account for 65% of the world's total betting volume (including black and gray markets) (Deutscher et al., 2017).
It would be a mistake to discount the possibility of a decline in modern sports in the face of recurrent controversies. Corruption in sports is a serious issue, and the involvement of multinational criminal groups is worrying. There has been a shift in these transnational criminal organizations over the past two decades from regional, primarily family-oriented structures to international organizations that engage in various legal and illicit operations and employ multiple methods. They have taken advantage of regulatory shifts, judicial system faults, more free trade, and the opening of borders brought about by globalization. They have weathered the storm of multiple political systems, including dictatorships and democracies, without sinking; quite the opposite. This is highly unique and, from a strategic perspective, very troubling.
Ex-security Director of FIFA Chris Eaton warned that criminal groups stand to gain greatly from the global surge in sports betting: "There are criminal gangs who are operating like corporations and transforming betting into a worldwide concern." To begin with, criminal groups can use sports betting to launder money(FIFA Ex-Security Chief Says Match-Fixing a “global Crime” | AP News, n.d.).
A criminal organization and fraud expert, Noel Pons, has said, "The concentration of a number of money laundering and fraud resources in a single unmanageable geographic area allows criminals to launder money, but more notably to maximize the profitability of criminal corruption." Due to these factors, criminal organizations have become deeply entrenched in the online gambling industry, which provides them with a measure of anonymity due to the offshore nature of betting sites, a lack of oversight, and the potential to lobby, resulting in the liberalization of a highly lucrative sector for them. Today's sports are ill-equipped to compete with these well-funded groups that have their sights set on the lucrative niches within the sports betting businesses.
Match fixing in soccer
The Aztecs created the so-called soccer game more than three thousand years ago. Tchatali was their name for the game, and they used rocks as balls. Cuju, the original ball game, was played in China between the second and third centuries BCE. They used a leather ball stuffed with feathers as a plaything. Ball sports were also played in ancient Greece and Rome, though not at the Panhellenic Games or in theaters. Its current form developed through time, and its popularity quickly swept over Europe and the rest of the world. (How Soccer Originated. Soccer History., n.d.) The Sport of soccer has exploded in popularity over the past few decades, and now millions of people worldwide play it and watch it regularly.
As a result of its fascinating gameplay and fast-paced action, this Sport, commonly referred to as football, has developed a massive fanbase worldwide. According to WorldAtlas, the Sport has a global fan base of more than 3.5 billion people. Whether you watch it occasionally or play it regularly, everyone can agree that soccer is a fantastic sport. Soccer's history isn't as rosy as it seems since the corruption of match-fixing has marred an otherwise pristine sport. Football match manipulation is nothing new; these incidents have become too regular and left terrible marks on the Sport. (The Most Popular Sports In The World - WorldAtlas, n.d.)
There has undoubtedly been match manipulation ever since sports began, but the truth is rarely found, and those involved are seldom punished. Match-fixing harms both the Sport and the teams participating in it. Juventus, an Italian football powerhouse, was accused of a match-fixing scandal in 2006 and was consequently demoted to the lower tier of the league, Serie B, and deprived of its 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles. Luciano Moggi, their former director, was given a five-year, four-month prison sentence. In contrast, the Della Valle brothers, owners of Fiorentina, were sentenced to one year and three months and fined €25,000. Claudio Lotito, former president of Lazio, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined €25,000, while Leonardo Meani, an AC Milan executive, received a year in jail. It took Italian football a long time to recover after 16 people were convicted. Moggi was convicted of participating in a criminal sports-fraud conspiracy.
FIFA banned South Korean football player Choi-Sung Kuk from the Sport for life after he was found guilty of rigging matches in the South Korean K-League in 2010. Choi was also given a 10-month prison term with a two-year suspension for his role in two matches' game results. Following the discovery of match-fixing in the K-League, dozens of football players were charged with crimes in 2012. (FIFA Ban South Korean Player Choi Sung-Kuk for Match-Fixing | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report, n.d.)
Marseille's match-fixing scandal in the early 1990s added controversy to French football. Bernard Tapie led Marseille to four league victories and the 1992 UEFA Champions League as manager. The foundations of a strong Marseille squad crumbled in 1993 when it was discovered that Tapie was implicated in match-fixing. Marseille was ineligible for the Intercontinental Cup, the Champions League, and the league championship. While Marseille was demoted to Ligue 2 and experienced financial difficulties, Tapie was sentenced to two years in prison. At the time, Raymond Goethals was the manager of Marseille.
Match fixing in baseball
One of the earliest cases of match-fixing at the highest level of athletics is the "Black Sox Scandal," as it is commonly known. Eight Chicago White Sox baseball team players were engaged in the Black Sox Scandal. A gambling ring gave them money to lose their World Series game against the Cincinnati Reds. The affair caused such shock and horror that it permanently altered baseball. After it was discovered, a new job of Baseball Commissioner was created and given to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. His responsibility was to assist the Sport in regaining its integrity.
Although money was the primary driver for the White Sox players to abandon the game, certain things were going on behind the scenes that might not have alarmed them. Charles Comiskey, the club's owner, was despised by many people and was thought to be exceedingly frugal. Baseball at the time had a rule known as the "reserve clause" that prohibited players from joining another team without the owner's consent. Arnold Rothstein, a swindler, consequently found it quite simple to locate irate players willing to accept payment in exchange for influencing game results.
Match fixing in cricket
Cricket is also involved in match-fixing; the structure of the game, particularly spot-fixing, lends itself to fixing so effectively. Cricket involves many statistics and associated markets, including many in-play bets on potential outcomes for the upcoming ball, over, next five overs, and so forth. Wild changes in momentum are also frequent in terms of the result, particularly in limited-overs cricket. Therefore, it would be simpler to get away with manipulating outcomes when the game is so unpredictable.
Hansie Cronje, the captain of South Africa and a star of their post-apartheid squad, was implicated in fixing with a huge Indian syndicate in 2000. "Infamous" would probably be a better word, but here is some brief information on the most infamous cricket-fixing incidents. He lost his life in a plane crash in 2002 while serving a life ban. Suspicious, did someone say that? As part of a significant investigation in 2000, Mohammad Azharuddin—another international cricket star and captain—was also found guilty of fixing. It is nevertheless acknowledged that he not only compelled other players to participate in selecting numerous games but also received a lifetime ban, which was later overturned. Salim Malik, another well-known player who had led Pakistan, received a lifetime ban in 2000 when allegations that he had been bought off were confirmed.
Match fixing in tennis
In tennis, match manipulation remains a recurrent issue. The Tennis Integrity Unit was founded in 2008 as a result of an investigation into the matter, which The Sunday Telegraph originally reported on in 2003. When Daniel Kollerer was banned for life in 2011 for match-fixing, it was a first in the sports world. By the end of that year, the Wimbledon organizers had been given a list of names of people who might have been involved. In a 2016 study, the BBC reported that there was "evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of international tennis, particularly at Wimbledon." That tennis was "a sport rife with corruption" in a February 2019 article. The International Tennis Integrity Agency was established in 2021 as an extra anti-corruption mechanism by the international governing bodies of professional tennis.
Nikolay Davydenko, a Russian tennis player, was accused of fixing a match in Poland against Martin Vassallo Argüello in 2007. However, the Association of Tennis Professionals exonerated him. Several million dollars were reportedly bet on the game using Russian accounts, according to a probe conducted in 2016. BuzzFeed and the BBC provided evidence that the suspected leader of an Italian sports betting ring texted or was texted by Davydenko 82 times. In January 2016, BuzzFeed and the BBC collaborated on an investigation that discovered extensive match-fixing suspicions inside Northern Italian, Sicilian, and Russian betting syndicates, including unusual wagers at tournaments like Wimbledon. The news crew looked over 26,000 separate stakes. In June of 2018, Nicolás Kicker, an Argentine tennis player, was suspended for a minimum of three years due to match-fixing. Findings from an investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit indicate that he was involved in at least two manipulated matches in 2015. He was banned from attending or taking part in any ATP or WTA tournaments.
Match fixing in darts
The authorities in charge of darts have also had to deal with match rigging a few times over the years. Concerns were voiced in 2017 regarding wagering on a World Championship preliminary match between Gilbert Ulang and Kevin Simm. Soon after, an investigation was started, and Ulang was questioned before being determined to have lost the game on purpose. The darts player from the Philippines was given a seven-year suspension and ordered to pay £2,500 in fees. The length of the penalty served as a warning to other players. It reflected the emphasis that the Darts Regulation Authority put on purposeful cheating at the Sport's highest level.
In 2016, Peter Wright's manager and wife appeared to imply on Twitter that Gary Anderson would not give his all against Adrian Lewis in the PDC Premier League to ensure Lewis advanced to the following round of the competition. Lewis responded with skepticism to the charges in a string of later deleted tweets. Joanne Wright also refuted the claims, claiming that the direct messages were sent in jest to someone who had abused Peter Wright and had been taken out of context. The darting authorities took no action, and there is no claim of unlawful conduct connected to match manipulation. Nevertheless, observing how vehemently Lewis fought the blemishes on his personality was intriguing.
Anderson also took part in an earlier event in which bookies reported seeing unusual betting patterns. Large sums of money were wagered on Anderson, who went on to win the match 3-1, despite the odds indicating a close encounter in the first round of the 2006 BDO World Darts Championship. Coral adopted an unorthodox stance, claiming they were paying winning bets "through clenched teeth" since they had suspicions but no concrete evidence of fraud. After a BDO-led investigation, no charges were ever filed against either player.
In conclusion, it is clear from the preceding that match-fixing taints the image of both the Sport and the athletes involved in the Sport. The ripple effect of this would be reduced following of sports since it is no longer competitive, but a measure of how much scandalous people can gain from it, passively through betting or actively through corruption resulting in alteration of results by referees or awarding penalties to favor one team over the other. Sports Organizations all over the world have to acknowledge this situation and try their best they can to resolve this challenge.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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