Alliance chief exec comments on European match-fixing scandal

European Union anti-crime agency Europol has today revealed a sophisticated international match-fixing operation described as a "big problem for the integrity of European football".

Around 380 professional matches have been identified as 'fixed', involving up to 425 corrupt match and club officials, players and criminals from more than 15 countries.

One of these matches was a Champions League tie that took place in the UK.

Tim Lamb, chief executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance and chair of the Sports Betting Group said:

“This investigation serves as a further reminder of the clear need to invest more in match-fixing prevention.

"If it's taking place under our noses in some of the richest countries, in one of the most watched sports in the world, it can happen anywhere.

“£6.5 million was invested in UK anti-doping last year, but no public money was provided for anti-match-fixing measures.

"Very few betting operators currently contribute anything towards putting the necessary anti-fixing measures, such as participant education programmes, in place.

“The Sports Betting Group was set up in 2010 to assist sports governing bodies to tackle the threats posed to integrity by match-fixing and corrupt betting.

"However, we still endorse the view that the problem needs to be tackled collaboratively by sports governing bodies, governments, betting operators, regulators, and the police – the reputation of football and other sports rests on it.”

• The examples highlighted above by Europol relate to illegal betting markets but regulated markets also need to be sufficiently robust to mitigate against any corrupt activity.
• There have been examples which have occurred in the regulated markets in recent years in sports such as football, horseracing, rugby league, snooker and tennis.
• We have one of the largest betting markets in the world so it is important to have an equally robust and sophisticated regulatory regime underpinning it.
• As such, we support the Government’s current proposals to move to a point-of-consumption licensing system – which would require all betting operators taking bets in the UK to hold a Gambling Commission licence and therefore make it a statutory requirement for them to share any suspicious betting information with the Commission.

For media enquiries, contact the Alliance's communications officer Libby Jellie on 020 7976 3933.

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