The news of a major match-fixing scandal breaking in European soccer is indicative of a moral and legal crisis in international sports industries worldwide, according to a Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic.

 

Professor Steve Redhead, adjunct professor of sport and media at the CSU School of Human Movement Studies in Bathurst, said, “Coming hard on the heels of the Lance Armstrong case and the illegal match fixing in Pakistan cricket, punters can be forgiven for giving up on sport, its role models and its supposed ‘improving’ values for people who participate in it”.

 

According to Europol, the information sharing policing agency, the European case involves 380 soccer matches in Europe over the last few seasons, including a recent Champions League game played in England. Europol has identified 425 corrupt officials, players and criminals involved, and has accused an Asian syndicate based in Singapore of masterminding the racket with help from European crime networks.

 

“Some cynicism has been present in the international media because FIFA and UEFA, the governing bodies of the sport, have not been shown the full evidence, but there is no doubt that the relationship between professional sport and illegal gambling has once again reared its ugly head,” Professor Redhead said.

 

“One explanation offered for player involvement is that, in the case of lower league games in various countries, wages are often relatively low - if they are paid on time at all - and it is easier to seduce sports people into corruption with high monetary returns from a little ‘illegality’ on a Saturday afternoon. Referees too are often poorly rewarded outside the top echelons. Big money offerings for poor decisions which pass off as incompetence in the odd game might seem tempting and unlikely to be spotted.”

 

Professor Redhead says gambling in sport has undergone radical changes over the years. Legal changes have meant sponsorship of sporting clubs by internet gambling companies is now common. Furthermore, legal gambling on sports like Australian rugby league has intertwined sport and gambling as never before.

 

“The introduction of spot and spread betting though, on a global scale, has been significant. At one time match-fixing meant the ‘throwing’ of the result of a game by multiple players and/or referees. However, as gambling industry practices changed and betting on how many wides there would be in the seventh over of a cricket match, or what time the first throw in at a soccer match occurred, it was easier to ‘fix’ aspects of a match and organised gambling crime internationally took on a new, widespread, highly profitable aspect. Combined with the financial rewards from betting in illegal Asian markets, this ‘perfect storm’ was deadly to the honest conduct of sport. It is noteworthy that Europol also pointed out evidence of match fixing in 300 games played in Africa, Asia, Central and South America.