The anti-corruption campaigners Transparency International (TI), the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) and the German Football League (DFL) have a project to combat match-fixing in football. “Staying on Side: How to Stop Match-fixing” was one of six pilot projects, co-funded by the European Commission.
Visit the TI website – http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/pub/staying_on_side_how_to_stop_match_fixing
The project included representatives from Transparency International chapters and professional football leagues in Germany (Bundesliga), Greece (Super League), Italy (Lega Serie B), Lithuania, (basketball and non-EPFL football clubs), Portugal (LPFP), and the UK (Premier League, Football League, Scottish Professional Football League) and participation by leagues in Norway (Toppfotball) and Poland (Ekstraklasa), under the overall co-ordination of the EPFL.
As the anti-corruption pressure group TI says, the growth of the global betting market and the potential gains from gambling and money laundering associated with betting has made football a target for organised crime. This puts players, officials and all those involved with football at risk. The emergence of match-fixing as a serious threat to the integrity of football has prompted responses both inside and outside the sport.
Over the past 18 months, the project partners have set up prevention schemes in several European countries.
The work in the countries ranged from research and fact-finding on preventing match-fixing, to publishing information and training materials. The project also hosted workshops and events for target groups including players, coaches and sports officials to raise awareness about the aspects of match-fixing and how to prevent it.
There were 46 workshops, round tables and other events were attended by more than 1300 people (players, coaches, sport officials, journalists, students and other stakeholders) and the project trained 102 people to become trainers.
A key learning from the project is that whistle-blower systems are critical to support those who want to report match-fixing approaches or need advice of how to handle difficult situations. Leagues in Germany, Austria and Scotland have already set up such systems and other leagues such as the Italian Serie B have committed to establish them.
Frédéric Thiriez, President, Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) said: “As the common voice of the European Leagues, the EPFL is strongly committed to use all its power and influence to ensure that the integrity of our Leagues’ competitions is fully preserved. We are honoured to work with Transparency International since we believe that prevention and education are fundamental instruments to eradicate match-fixing from our sport.”
Among the EPFL Member Leagues, the German Football League (DFL) is one of the pioneers in this area of work and it provided critical support to the project, TI reports.
Christian Seifert, Chief Executive of the DFL said: “We strongly believe that education and training especially of younger players is a key element of prevention. We want to create a clear understanding and awareness about the dangers and consequences of match-fixing and gambling addiction in order to protect the players and to combat match-fixing.”
And Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director, Transparency International said: “We strongly believe awareness-raising and education are key to tackling the problem of match-fixing. As an anti-corruption organisation with experience helping people say no to corruption, Transparency International can offer support to those in football who have to come to grips with risky situations.”
The next stage will be to further disseminate the materials and experiences from the project.
In Scotland
Scottish FA earlier this year launched its Keep It Clean campaign.
Central to the awareness campaign is the creation of an Integrity Hotline – powered by the crime-reporting charity, Crimestoppers – providing players, coaches, match officials, club officials and football administration staff with an anonymous phone service to raise any concerns that compromise the sport: whether match-fixing, betting patterns, doping issues or other unlawful pressures applied from third parties. All 42 senior clubs in Scotland received an awareness pack, of dressing-room posters, flyers, stickers and boardroom mugs, all containing the unique hotline number and messaging. The line is open 24 hours, seven days a week.
Stewart Regan, Scottish FA Chief Executive, said: “The threat posed to the integrity of the game is clear and present. Recently, we have seen allegations of match-fixing arrive in England and while we should be proud of the reputation Scotland has worked hard to cultivate we must be extra vigilant.
“We have appointed a new security and integrity officer, Peter McLaughlin, and his remit will be to liaise with the relevant stakeholders in this country and internationally to ensure there are clear lines of communication and that we work together to ensure Scottish football remains clear of this modern scourge.”
Earlier, Peter McLaughlin worked for the criminal record checking body Disclosure Scotland; and was a Strathclyde Police superintendent.
Neil Doncaster, SPFL Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be part of Keep It Clean and urge all our member clubs to work with us to keep the game in this country free from unsavoury occurrences that have affected other countries. We will provide any support we can to maintain Scottish football’s impeccable reputation.”
Fraser Wishart, PFA Scotland Chief Executive, said: “Players are often the most vulnerable people in the game when it comes to those who seek to perpetrate match-fixing. We work tirelessly with FIFPro, the global players’ union, to provide a support network and closer to home have established a joint education programme with the Scottish FA to ensure players have access to all information available to them to protect them from this growing threat.”
Walter McAdam, of the Coaches and Managers’ Association, said: “We are fully supportive of this awareness campaign. We are all proud of Scottish football and should consider ourselves as custodians of the principles of the game. It is encouraging that everyone involved in the game is keen to work in partnership to keep the focus on the positive aspects of our national sport.”
And Kate Johnston, Crimestoppers Commercial Manager, said: “Crimestoppers is delighted that the Scottish FA is leading the way by putting in place further robust measures to protect the integrity of Football in Scotland and is pleased to be able to provide them with an anonymous and secure outlet to do this. We also provide this service to UK Anti-Doping and the British Horseracing Authority and have done so for a number of years with positive results. This latest partnership with the Scottish FA is an opportunity for those within the game to follow suit and do the right thing to help protect their sport.”
