24/06/2011 Session
European sport could end up as “a graveyard” if it goes the way of Asia – which has lost millions in sponsorship and TV rights as a result of corrupt “match-fixing” – a hearing on the phenomenon heard today.
Investigative journalist Declan Hill, who spent seven months undercover to expose match-fixing syndicates, told participants at the hearing – including sports officials, parliamentarians and experts – that there were few sports in Asia that had not been affected, and that European sport was now “on a knife-edge”.
The hearing, organised by PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education, will provide material for a report on this subject being prepared by Cecilia Keaveney (Ireland, ALDE). Citing Interpol’s estimate that up to 140 billion dollars had been placed in illegal bets on sporting matches worldwide, she said: “It’s not an exaggeration to say we will see the demise of sport as we know it, if we do not act.”
She suggested the idea of creating an “international mechanism” which would bring together sports governing bodies, the gambling industry and law enforcers to combat match-fixing and similar forms of corruption in sport.
Pierre Cornu of UEFA said that cheating in sport for payoffs has existed since Roman times, but that the stakes are much higher today as a result of internet betting and the globalisation of organised crime: “Anyone with a computer can bet on anything, anywhere.” There was a global risk to society, with profits from illegal match-fixing feeding other forms of organised crime.
Young athletes earning relatively little, who are offered substantial sums for initially small acts of complicity – sometimes with threats to their families – are vulnerable to highly organised syndicates, the hearing was told.
Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio outlined the “pioneering” role the Council of Europe was carving out in combating match-fixing. It was looking into the feasibility of an international convention to criminalise the phenomenon, and a recommendation to governments was due in September 2011.
David Howman, who heads the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said the WADA model of bringing together sport and governments had worked, and that doping and match-fixing shared many features. He proposed a “world sport integrity agency” which could deal with both forms of corruption.