Inglorious Bastards

Never mind racism, sexism (Keys and Gray ism if you will) or hooliganism, Michel Platini says match-fixing is the biggest threat facing soccer.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has found in favour of UEFA after an appeal by Ukrainian referee Oleg Oriekhov. In November 2009, Oriekhov referred a match between FC Basel and CSK Sofia in the UEFA Europa League. An investigation by a public prosecutor in Germany concluded Oriekhov was in contact with a criminal group involved in betting fraud and that he was offered €50,000 to manipulate the result of the match. UEFA found that he had failed to disclose these approaches by criminals as required under UEFA regulations and imposed a life ban upon him from taking part in football activity. Oriekhov appealed this decision to the CAS.

The CAS panel conclude that it had been proven beyond reasonable doubt that there were contacts between Oriekhov and the members of the criminal gang involved in match fixing and betting fraud. The panel found that he had deliberately violated the UEFA principles of conduct by not immediately informing UEFA of the contact. The CAS made no finding in relation to whether or not the FC Basel and CSK Sofia match was fixed.

Oriekhov is also linked to an ongoing criminal trial in Germany. In late 2009 and in 2010, German police arrested fifty people on suspicion of fixing two-hundred and seventy matches across nine countries. The investigation has uncovered over €2m in alleged bribes to players, officials and referees and winnings of at least €15m. Four are currently on trial.

In his testimony to the German Court, Croat Ante Sapina (who has previously been convicted of match fixing), claimed to have paid €40,000 to Bosnian referee, Novo Panic, to fix the otherwise meaningless World Cup qualifying match between Finland and Liechtenstein in 2009. He also alleges that a Slovakian UEFA official involved in selecting referees was paid tens of thousands of euros to appoint Panic to more lucrative matches. These revelations came a day after former St. Pauli player Rene Schnitzler confessed to a German magazine he had received €100,000 to fix five matches, although he denied actually manipulating any of the games.

This case is indicative of a much wider problem in European sport. The prevalence of gambling and the use of the internet in betting exchanges have contrived to make match fixing a genuine problem. There have been reported cases of match fixing in many European countries in recent years ranging from Bulgaria and Belgium to Turkey, Greece and Italy. The problem of match fixing is one that requires an international solution. We need a WADA style international body dealing with corruption and match fixing.

I’ve done a lot of research on this topic and will be writing a lot more about it.