A company specializing in competitive integrity and betting monitoring, as well as a FIFA contributor, Sportradar raised 903 dubious games in 2021 from 10 different sports and in 76 countries. A record at 17 years of follow-up, which should be surpassed in 2022.
Five suspicious games from last year involved adult teams. The problem of manipulation is still seen as on the rise, with football as the main scenario. Since 2010, Sportradar has classified 100 national team games as suspect.
“The World Cup is the most important tournament in the world of football, which naturally makes the risk less. It is the high point of an athlete's career; the world exposure is vast. This means that athletes involved are less likely to manipulate the course or outcome of a game,” Andreas Krannich, managing director of Integrity Services at Sportradar, said in an email interview with ge.
In addition to the importance and visibility of the Cup, players who will be in Qatar enjoy a solid financial base, in general, which reduces the risks of engaging in corruption activities, according to experts. But the potentially high gains should prompt manipulators to act.
Asked by ge about what measures have already been or will be taken on the subject, FIFA says that it will still implement an approach to the 2022 World Cup, with more details in the future.
FIFA guarantees to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against all forms of corruption in football and ensures to apply various measures to prevent and address risky situations, while monitoring suspicious patterns.
The most recent cases registered by the entity are from 2020. Boniface Mwamelo, from Zambia, was banned for 15 years and fined CHF 10,000; and Sidio Jose Mugadza, from Mozambique, was banned from football for seven years. They were involved in grassroots tournament conspiracies. There are cases that occurred in World Cup qualifiers.
In 2014, the then head of FIFA Security, Ralf Mutschke, denounced the attempted harassment of referees and players by criminals who tried to manipulate results at the World Cup in Brazil.
Partnership with the UN
The Global Integrity Program, a partnership between FIFA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), ended at the end of June. It was designed to work in the 211 associations and six confederations. According to UNODC, more than 400 representatives from governments and federations have participated in 29 workshops since March 2021.
“UNODC is currently exploring the possibility of developing awareness-raising events for government officials participating in the World Cup and is actively discussing with FIFA possible actions that could be taken during the 2022 World Cup,” the office’s anti-corruption area of the UN said.
The latest UNODC report on corruption in sport warned of the link between match-fixing, illegal betting and international organized crime. Possible responses include updating laws, developing anti-corruption policies, and establishing specific, independent bodies to deal with cases.
“In many countries, online gambling has become legal, which requires proper monitoring and strengthened prevention. Qatar has worked with all partner agencies to incorporate best practices in tackling this issue,” commented Dale Sheehan, Director of Training and Executive Education at the independent non-governmental organization International Center for Safety in Sport (ICSS).
According to the world union of professional players (FIFPro), athletes are often afraid to notify the police, justice, UEFA or FIFA, for fear of putting their families and careers at risk. Since 2020, the union has had an app for anonymous reporting.
Brazilian football has had recent cases of manipulation of results. The federation of São Paulo sent a letter to the Civil Police to investigate the results of the fourth division. In Ceará, Crato was suspended from participating in state competitions. Flamengo-PI filed a complaint with the Public Ministry of Piauí against players from the club itself.
Source: ge
