FIFPRO and UEFA have signed a joint cooperation agreement that recognises the Red Button whistleblowing app as the go-to platform for professional footballers to report possible match-fixing incidents.
Initiative to run from 30 September until 4 November
Programme aimed at improving education and integrity capacity-building across FIFA’s member associations
Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup. This recap highlights this week’s news pieces from across the world of sport. For further updates, please visit our news section.
We hope you find this useful. If you have any related questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has today confirmed that German tennis player Dario Drebenstedt has been banned from the sport for 12 months and fined $5000 after being found guilty of several breaches of Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules. The offenses all took place at a tournament in Egypt in 2021 and related to an attempt to buy a wild card and attempted corrupt approaches to other players.
INVESTIGATIONS
Belgium
Belgian police to investigate possible basketball fraud case
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Belgian basketball federation has asked the country’s federal police to investigate a possible fraud case related to the organization of 3x3 tournaments in the runup to the Tokyo Olympics.
Following discussions with the local Wallonia and Flanders federations, Basketball Belgium said in a statement on Tuesday that it contacted a police unit specialized in sports fraud to conduct a “thorough investigation.”
The federation said a disciplinary inquiry was being carried out by Basketball Flanders in addition to a criminal complaint.
De Standaard newspaper reported last month that fake 3x3 basketball tournaments were set up in Belgium from August to October 2019 in a bid to allow the Belgium team to collect the necessary points to be able to take part in qualifying for the Olympic Games.
Lausanne, 14 September 2021 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by Brazilian football official Ricardo Terra Teixeira against the decision taken by the Ethics Committee of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) dated 26 July 2019 (the Challenged Decision).
This month we will address the wider topic of integrity in sport with a focus on competition manipulation.
Betting, match-fixing, sharing inside information and doping in sport are all forms of cheating, running contrary to the idea of a clean and fair field of play. We will examine each of these areas with our expert panel and an athlete guest. We will also look at how personal and sport values affect decision-making and how moments of vulnerability can lead to taking poor decisions. In turn, we will discuss how this can lead to personal, social and economic consequences.
Join us for this interactive session where we challenge you to learn more about yourself and the values that are most important to you and your fellow athletes and colleagues in sport.
We are very pleased to deliver these webinars in English with simultaneous translation to four additional languages – Arabic (العربي), Spanish (español), French (français) and Russian (русский).
The IIHF Independent Disciplinary Board has issued a five-year suspension to Belarusian Ice Hockey Association (BIHA) President Dmitri Baskov.
The decision comes following a ten-month investigation by the IIHF Disciplinary Board, which found Baskov to be in violation of the IIHF Code of Conduct. The Board cited sufficient evidence that Baskov has tried to directly influence others to support the Belarus government and has threatened and discriminated Belarusian athletes because of their political opinion, violating Rule 1.2.2.1 of the IIHF Code of Conduct. The Board also determined that Baskov abused his position as a representative of ice hockey in order to support the current President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, violating Article 5 of the Olympic Charter in connection with Article 2.1 of the IIHF Disciplinary Regulations and Rule 1.2.2.4 of the IIHF Code of Conduct.
Wicketkeeper-batter Gulam Shabbir of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been banned from all cricket for four years after admitting breaching six counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
OVERVIEW:
For some time now, ESIC has been investigating several instances of match-fixing behaviour which took place in the North American region amongst CS:GO players participating in an ESEA tournament series. While this investigation is still ongoing, ESIC has made this release for the purposes of issuing an interim update.
To date, this investigation has been subject to significant cooperation with law enforcement agencies, anti-corruption supporters, and other stakeholders in order to ensure that the behaviour being perpetrated is thoroughly investigated and prosecuted under ESIC’s Anti-Corruption Code.
As of the date of this interim release, ESIC announces sanctions against three participants and is still in the process of conducting 34 additional investigations relating to this matter.
Notably, ESIC has observed compelling evidence that suggests that organised crime groups and foreign betting syndicates were involved in fraudulent activities during the course of Season 35 of the ESEA Premier: North America.
ESIC welcomes Esports Technologies (NASDAQ: EBET) as an ESIC Anti-Corruption Supporter. With the support of Esports Technologies, ESIC continues the battle against match-fixing and corruption in esports.
Anti-Corruption Supporters assist ESIC in investigating suspicious betting activity, supporting our larger mission in combating cheating and betting fraud in the esports industry.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirms that Moroccan tennis player Simohamed Hirs has been banned for life from the sport, following investigations into multiple incidents of match fixing.
In this episode our guest is Catherine Ordway, PhD. Catherine has an extensive background in anti-doping which has taken her around the world
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that two tennis players from Uzbekistan, Temur Ismailov and Amal Sultanbekov, have been banned from the sport, following an investigation into match fixing at a tournament in 2019.
With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics fast approaching, FIFA has completed a series of integrity briefings with the participating teams and referees in order to raise awareness of potential threats to the game and outline FIFA’s preventative measures.
The sessions included practical examples on critical situations that team members and referees may face before, during or after the competition, as well as details on the appropriate mechanisms to report any incident relating to match manipulation.
UEFA’s comprehensive measures against potential match-fixing at UEFA EURO 2020 were based on two main pillars: education and prevention on the one hand, and monitoring and intelligence on the other.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) today confirms that six tennis players from Morocco have been provisionally suspended by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Charles Hollander QC, pending an inquiry into match fixing allegations. The players are: Amine Ahouda, Anas Chakrouni, Ayoub Chakrouni, Mohamed Zakaria Khalil, Soufiane El Mesbahi and Yassir Kilani.
Welcome to our July 2021 Newsletter!
Welcome to our June 2021 Newsletter!
Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup. This recap highlights this week’s news pieces from across the world of sport. For further updates, please visit our news section.
We hope you find this useful. If you have any related questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirms a total of 56 technological fraud controls were performed during the recent 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Flanders (Belgium). All returned negative results.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The NHL found no evidence that San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane bet on NHL games or tried to throw games after investigating allegations made by his estranged wife.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), on behalf of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), has charged former West Indies player Marlon Samuels with breaching four counts of the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for Participants of the T10 League (the ‘Code’).
Lausanne (RWH) The coming webinar of the International Testing Agency ITA will address the wider topic of integrity in sport with a focus on competition manipulation.
FIFA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 September 2020
The FIFA Global Integrity Programme (FGIP) has been delivered to the Integrity Officers from Member Associations of three confederations (AFC, CONMEBOL and Concacaf), with further editions planned for CAF, OFC and UEFA
The FGIP editions have been fully subscribed across all confederations
Welcome to LawInSport’s weekly News Roundup. We have curated the top ten news pieces from around the world of sport. For further updates, please visit our news section.
We hope you find this useful. If you have any related questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
INVESTIGATIONS
Belgium
Did Belgium’s 3x3 basketball team commit fraud to qualify for the Olympics?
Basketball Belgium, the Belgian basketball association and the international basketball federation are conducting an investigation into possible fraud involving the organisation of three-on-three basketball tournaments. The investigations have been launched following allegations of fraud involving the Belgian 3x3 Lions, who shone at the Tokyo Olympics.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has today confirmed that Algerian tennis player Hichem Yasri has been banned from the sport for three months and fined $5000 (suspended on condition of no further breaches) for placing bets on tennis matches in breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules. None of the player’s bets were on matches he was participating in or had inside information on.
The United States Department of Justice has awarded the sum of USD 201 million to the FIFA Foundation as compensation for the losses suffered by FIFA, Concacaf and CONMEBOL as victims of decades of football corruption schemes. This money was seized from the bank accounts of former officials who were involved in, and then prosecuted for, years of corruption schemes in football. The funds will go into a newly formed World Football Remission Fund, established under the auspices of the FIFA Foundation to help finance football-related projects with positive community impact across the globe.
The Adjudicatory Chamber of the OFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee in a decision notified on 6 July 2021 has found Mr. Lee Harmon, President of the Cook Islands Football Association, guilty of having breached the OFC Code of Ethics.
Peruvian tennis player Mauricio Echazu Puente has been provisionally suspended from the sport by independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO) Mr Raj Parker, pending the full consideration of charges against him.
STATEMENT:
Due to the publication of a statement by Nicolai “Hunden” Petersen, relating to a matter that is still undergoing investigation, ESIC has decided to issue its own statement, in both the public’s interest and to avoid speculation.
NVESTIGATIONS
Ghana
Football: Player scores two own goals to ruin match-fixing plot in Ghana
A player in the Ghana Premier League Hashmin Musah has claimed that he scored two deliberate own goals in a match on Saturday so as to foil an alleged match-fixing plot.
Over the past few months, International Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) across the globe have worked closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help ensure fair competitions during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
21 JULY 2021, MONACO: In the lead up to the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has received 17 referrals for investigation of suspicious qualifying performances. The referrals were from 16 countries and included 31 athletes and five relay teams. As a result of the AIU’s investigations, eight qualifying performances for the Olympic Games were not recognised by World Athletics and the relevant athletes denied a place at the Games. A number of cases have been identified by the AIU for further investigation to determine if fraudulent conduct was involved.
Protecting the integrity of sport at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, taking place from 23 July to 8 August 2021, is a top priority for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC Executive Board (EB) was updated today on the measures put in place for Games time – aimed at both preventing and dealing swiftly with competition manipulation.
Two matches from this years Wimbledon championships are being investigated over possible irregular betting patterns
14 July 2021: The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 38 cases of suspicious betting to the relevant authorities during the second quarter (Q2) of 2021. The Q2 2021 total represents a 41% decrease in reported alerts when compared to the Q1 total of 64 and represents a similar decrease when compared to the Q2 2020 total, which saw 65 alerts. The Q2 alerts covered football (16 cases), table tennis (9), tennis (6), eSports (6) and beach volleyball (1). From a geographical perspective, Europe accounted for nearly half (47%) of all alerts reported, followed by Asia and South America with 13% each.
The UEFA Executive Committee today met in London ahead of the UEFA EURO 2020 final and took the following decisions.
Sanath Jayasundara, a former performance analyst at Sri Lanka Cricket, has been banned from all cricket for seven years after the ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal found him guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
GLMS is pleased to share our 2021 Q1 Monitoring & Intelligence Report, in which you will find key facts and figures from GLMS' monitoring and intelligence work over the first 3 months of 2021, in the service of its members and for sport. We have also explained some trends and how we generate green alerts.
Investment in Sport