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.