Abstract
This chapter considers the relationship between gambling, sport and corruption. It demonstrates how the growing availability of sports betting has heightened opportunities for match-fixing across a range of sporting disciplines and most regions of the world. The prevalence, motivations and organisational dynamics of betting-related match-fixing are examined, as are the range of measures introduced by states, law enforcement agencies, sporting organisations, betting operators and gambling associations in order to better detect, prevent and prosecute those involved in such forms of corruption. This includes the development of new and existing legal provisions and sporting codes of conduct, the introduction of integrity units, educational programmes and compliance hotlines and the establishment of early warning systems that monitor sports betting for suspicious activity.
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Notes
- 1.
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is known for its pool bets such as the Scoop6, and is the only organisation in the UK which is allowed to run pool betting on horseracing. Established in 1928 following the introduction of the Racecourse Betting Act, the Tote was owned by the UK government until it was sold to Betfred in July 2011.
- 2.
The Horserace Betting Levy Board is a UK statutory body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Established by the Betting Levy Act 1961, the HBLB operates in accordance with the provisions of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 (as amended).
- 3.
- 4.
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Southampton, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur
- 5.
The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (2013: 18) defines irregular betting as ‘all types of betting based on match-fixing’.
- 6.
Cronje was killed in a plane crash in South Africa’s Western Cape province in 2002.
- 7.
Hill (2009, 2014) notes that an influential player who is charged with the responsibility of organising a fixing network within his own team is not necessarily chosen because of his position on the field or ‘playing capital’. Rather, it is because of his social connections with the corruptor and his perceived corruptibility that makes him a suitable target. Nevertheless, heads of fixing networks inside teams do typically have high playing capital, usually being a senior player with authority and influence. Most importantly, the player will have a good idea as to which teammates can be persuaded to fix a match.
- 8.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China), Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.
- 9.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Switzerland.
- 10.
FIFA signed a contractual agreement with Interpol in 2011 to finance a €20 million 10-year Integrity in Sport programme designed to combat match fixing as well as irregular and illegal betting through training, education and prevention. The programme has, however, been suspended by Interpol in response to an ongoing police investigation into corruption and bribery at football’s world governing body (BBC News 2015b).
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Banks, J. (2017). Gambling, Sport and Corruption. In: Gambling, Crime and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57994-2_5
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