THE HAGUE, the Netherlands, 05 August. - (ANA) - There is no consensus on the definition of sports corruption in the law enforcement community. The phenomenon may cover a wide array of different corrupt practices and includes bribery, match-fixing, doping, betting   fraud, money laundering, influencing the arranging and hosting of international   sporting events (and subsequent procurement procedures). All these corrupt practices feature a common element of severely affecting the realm of sports oneway or another. The focus of this report is on match-fixing, paying particular attention to its  betting-related dimension   as the majority of the cases reported to Europol relate   to this phenomenon, says a report published by Europol.

 

 

 

 

Organised crime groups (OCGs) involved in sports corruption are active on a transnational level.

 

1 /OCGs operate a top-down operational business model and are often poly-criminal. 

 

2 /The global annual criminal proceeds from betting-related match-fixing are estimated at €120 million1.

 

3 /Online betting is increasingly used by OCGs for betting-related match-fixing. 

 

4 /The use of online technologies for the purpose of sport betting linked to competition manipulation will continue to facilitate these illicit activities.

 

5 /In match-fixing schemes,the fixing is usually organised separately from the betting. Betting may be placed on the pre-match markets or on the (most predominant) live-betting (or in play-betting) and criminals may engage in fixing the outcome of a match or single sub-sets (spot-fixing).

 

6 /OCGs predominantly target sporting competitions matching the profile of lower-level competitions across different sports.

 

7 /Betting-related match-fixing can well serve as a platform to further high-scale money laundering schemes by the same OCGs involved in sports corruption for its own benefit, and/or to serve other OCGs in search of specialised ‘laundering services’. 

 

8 /Money laundering can take place via online betting, by either exploiting regulated betting operators or taking the direct ownership of those operators (‘criminally controlled gambling operators’).

 

9 /OCGs misuse identities to create betting accounts and e-wallets used to bet on pre-arranged matches. 

 

10 /OCGs maximise their illegal gains by combining the benefits coming from competition manipulation for both sport-related and betting-related purposes.

 

11 /The actual scale of sport-related match-fixing remains an intelligence gap.

 

12 /Football remains the most targeted sport by international OCGs.

 

13 /Detection of match-fixing schemes in tennis has increased. EurasianOCGs are highly involved in tennis match-fixing.

 

 

 

 

Fraudulent  betting  and  involvement  of  OCGs  in  sports  corruption  are  not  new developments. 

 

However, the involvement of OCGs in sports corruption is increasing in the European Union (EU) Member States (MS). In 2013, the European Parliament adopted a dedicated Resolution on match-fixing and corruption in sport2calling to adopt a number of   actions   including   the   collection,   exchange,   analysis   and dissemination  of  intelligence  on  match-fixing,  fraud  in  sports  and  other  forms  of corruption  in  sport.  

 

The  need  for  close  cooperation  between  all  stakeholders concerned (e.g. sport organisations, licensing authorities, law enforcement bodies) in EU and beyond was stressed.Also in 2013, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on online gambling in the internal market3, which underlined the risk of betting related match-fixing and money  laundering  through  online  gambling. 

 

The  international  legal  framework  to fight corruption in sport has been further enhanced, for example by the Convention on   the   manipulation   of   sports   competitions4 (Macolin   Convention,   the   first international legal  instrument)  adopted  by  the  Council  of  Europe  in  2014.  This convention entered into force in September 2019 following its ratification in seven countries  (Greece, Italy,  Moldova,  Norway,  Portugal,  Switzerland,  and  Ukraine), while an additional 31countries have signed it. 

 

Corruption in sport as a serious crime on a global level has been further reflected in specific  UN  Resolutions,  calling  upon state parties ‘to enhance their efforts to prevent and fight corruption in sport’; stressing ‘the importance of robust legislative and  law  enforcement  measures’;  to  ‘improve  cooperation,  coordination  and exchange of information’; and to ‘further coordinate efforts to effectively mitigate the risks of corruption in sport’5.

 

The  need to tackle this  crime  more  effectively  on an international  level  prompted the  creation  of  a  dedicated  Europol  operational  projecting  2014  (Analysis  Project Sports Corruption) with the aim to support MS investigations. The above-mentioned EuropeanParliament resolution on match-fixing and corruption in sport referred to exceptional operational results of 13 MS and Europol that uncovered an  extensive criminal  network  involved  in  football match-fixing6. 

 

A  number  of  additional  major investigations   targeting   transnational   OCGs   operating   in   the   field   of   sports corruption and which have an impact on the EU have been successfully carried out ever since with the support of Europol. 

 

Sports  corruption  is  often  addressed  only  from  the  perspective  of  sports  integrity due  to  the  lack  of  awareness  (even  among  practitioners)  on  the  involvement  of organised crime. Europol continues to support investigations to dismantle criminal networks  that  launder  their  criminal  profits  through  sports  corruption  or  increase their illegal assets by manipulating sporting events worldwide

 

 

 

 

The  main  goal  of  this  report  is  to  highlight  the  link  between  sports  corruption,  in particular  match-fixing and  organised  crime and to  increase  awareness  among practitioners and the public. The data received by Europol on this phenomenon is by no  means  exhaustive,  but  still  enables us to  describe  relevant modi  operandi and links to organised crime and the most active OCGs.

 

This situation report provides an insight into how the international criminal groups are  involved in  sports  corruption,  their  characteristics  and  structure  as  well  as  the way  criminal  networks  operate  and  cooperate.  OCG  money  laundering  activities through sports corruption are also described. In addition, the report  examines the types of match fixing as the most prominent form of sports corruption monitored by Europol  and  looks  into  the  Asian  betting  model.  Furthermore, particular insight is provided into the most targeted sports by criminal networks with a focus on football and tennis.

 

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known under the name Europol, formerly the European Police Office and Europol Drugs Unit, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) formed in 1998 to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states.  - (ANA) -

 

For the full report, visit: file:///Users/alibahaijoub/Downloads/the_involvement_of_organised_crime_groups_in_sports_corruption.pdf

 

AB/ANA/05 August 2020 - - -