Match-Fixing

At the end of April 2018, and two years after the four organisations principally responsible for governing
professional tennis at the international level (the ATP, the WTA, the ITF, and the Grand Slam Board)
appointed the Independent Review Panel, the Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis Interim Report was
published. This Report’s intention is not only to provide information about the malicious practices that exist
within tennis, but also to warn stakeholders about the seriousness of the situation and present a series of
recommendations to address the problems identified. In this article, Enric Ripoll Gonzalez of Ruiz-Huerta &
Crespo Sports Lawyers details the history leading up to this most recent report and the recommendations
put forward to address once and for all the integrity problem that continues to blight tennis.

No major professional sports league epitomizes Guy Debord's idea of the spectacle more than the NBA. The league was the first to understand the importance of highlights and global expansion, and participated in creating the first branded superstar in Michael Jordan. Naturally there are some controversies surrounding the rise to its present-day status, like the (supposedly) fixed 1985 draft or Michael Jordan's (supposedly) enforced first retirement. One of the most controversial events in recent league history took place during Game Six of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. A lot of controversial calls by the referees allowed the Lakers to win the game and eventually the series. As the Lakers were about to get eliminated, the league officials allegedly encouraged referees to force a Game Seven. The problem with the allegations was that they were made public by former referee Tim Donaghy, who himself used to bet on games. David Stern, the league's former commissioner was referring to Donaghy's gambling addiction as the reason for the falsity of his statements. My paper uses the game in question as a case study in order to present the spectacular aspects of the
NBA.

This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and undermining of corruption in sports, particularly soccer. Drawing chiefly on various illustrative examples of several recent cases of corruption and the existing academic literature on the topic, the article demonstrates how the media function as both an enemy and a facilitator of corruption in sports. Both micro- and macrosocial analytical dimensions for potential future research on the relationship between the media and corruption are proposed and discussed.

This paper examines consumer perspectives on match-fixing in esports-professionalized competitive videogame play-and the implications of these perspectives for understanding game and gambling integrity. The relationship between match-fixing, game integrity, and gambling is a close one, as gambling markets are reliant on strong game integrity, but has not yet been studied in detail in the context of esports. Drawing on extensive qualitative data collected from esports fans around the world, this paper examines perceptions of gambling awareness, integrity, and esports gambling to assess esports consumers' awareness of and attitudes toward gambling-related match-fixing. Results indicate that esports viewers are not deeply concerned by match-fixing. In addition, spectators typically view gambling as a cause of corruption among competitors, but also understand and accept some elements of the practice. Further, spectators tend to rely on rules to determine their assessment of what is "wrong", rather than assessments based on ethics, and are often willing to forgive infractions through a range of reasons and justifications. We propose a need for education among esports spectators, extending existing anti-cheating programs beyond just athletes to include the broader esports community.

Online technology has facilitated a huge growth in the scale of sports betting Worldwide and a shift towards betting in-play rather than pre match. These developments provide benefits and costs to sport. In-play betting is strongly complementary with sports consumption and provides new opportunities for revenue from data sales. At the same time, high liquidity in sports betting markets and enhanced opportunities for match-fixers to make profits in-play raise integrity risk. The paper discusses both the new opportunities for sport from betting and the nature of and reasons for the match-fixing threat and how sports should respond.

On the 1st of September 2019, the Council of Europe Convention against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions entered into force. This official mandate appears to confirm the significance of the issue on the political agenda. For sports governance bodies, the problem is one of the biggest threats against the integrity and sustainability of their industry. Despite this political-institutional situation, the phenomenon still remains under-studied in the academic world and several authors have emphasized the need for more and better empirical research to verify the premises (sometimes unfounded) on which the official preventive narrative of the problem is built. This special issue, Deconstructing Match-fixing, comes to light to address this issue. Systematizing the evidence presented along the contributions, this introductory article attempts to dispel some ‘myths’ in the official preventive narrative, offers some lessons for a better understanding of the phenomenon, and promotes recommendations for establishing more evidence-based public policies and educational campaigns.

One of the main obstacles to detect undesirable conducts such as manipulation of games and competitions, and to combat corrupt behaviour in the sports world is the existence of the so-called “code of silence” among the sport’s actors. Therefore, integrity educational campaigns, codes of conduct, ethics and disciplinary norms include the obligation to report any suspicion, approach, tentative or case of match-fixing. In some countries, such as Portugal, the obligation to denounce is incorporated into criminal law. Although several protected reporting channels have been implemented for sport institutions and federations to encourage whistle-blowing practices, the level of denouncement is still low. Through the analysis of official discourses, ethnography and interviews with key informants, this article demonstrates that despite the formal norms, reporting on corruption in sport, mainly match-fixing, is a dangerous practice that can have serious consequences for the athletes’ career. More than a code of silence within sports, what exist is a series of public secrecies that deliberately recognize the existence of informal institutions that create and materialize those dangers. However, while integrity actors show awareness of the situation, the official narrative and formal norms avoid considering these problems and, moreover, throw this evidence out of the integrity narrative framework. The result is a delegitimate and non-realistic narrative that pushes sports actors to keep quiet more than promoting ethical behaviours and whistle-blowing.

TIU. 1. Comportamiento fraudulento de los jugadores y otras personas sujetas a la apli-cación del Programa Anticorrupción. 1.1. La prohibición de apostar. 1.2. La provisión de acre-ditaciones. 2. Vulneración de las normas y códigos de conducta establecidos por las organi-zaciones deportivas. 3. Abuso y falsificación en la obtención de acreditaciones para eventos deportivos. 4. Algunos ilícitos especiales: el «courtsiding». IV. SANCIONES PRINCIPALES POR INFRACCIONES AL PROGRAMA ANTICORRUPCIÓN. V. JUGADORES SANCIONADOS POR LA UNIDAD DE INTEGRIDAD DEL TENIS. VI. RÉGIMEN JURÍDICO DE LA CORRUPCIÓN DEPORTIVA EN ESPAÑA. VII. CONCLUSIÓN. RESUMEN: El amaño de partidos constituye una de las amenazas más importantes a la integridad del deporte. En los últimos quince años, el fenóme-no se ha visto incrementado por su conexión con el mercado de las apuestas. El autor, analizando las características del arreglo de partidos aplicado al tenis, estudia la respuesta que el tenis profe-sional ha dado a esta problemática, deteniéndose en el examen del Programa Anticorrupción de la Unidad de Integridad del Tenis. ABSTRACT: Match-Fixing has became one of the most important threats to the sport integrity. In the last fifteen years, the issue has increased by his connection with the betting-market. The author , analysing the special features of Match-Fixing regarding Tennis, examines the reply to this threat given by the professional tennis bodies, fo-cusing on the exam of Anti-Corruption Programm from the Tennis Integrity Unit.

RESUMEN El presente artículo expone, a partir de un hipotético caso práctico, la situación de los amaños deportivos o match-fixing en el ámbito del tenis profesional y cuáles son, a nivel jurídico, la normativa y sanciones que se establecen para los supuestos casos de amaños deportivos. PALABRAS CLAVE Amaños deportivos, apuestas, régimen jurídico, tenis profesional, sanciones 1. INTRODUCCIÓN Soy coach de un grupo de jugadores emergentes que luchan cada día por convertirse en tenistas profesionales. Soy conocedor por noticias periodísticas de la existencia de mafias conectadas con las casas de apuestas que buscan tenistas incautos a los que tratan de involucrar en sus propósitos con la excusa de apoyarles económicamente en sus comienzos. Desconozco cuáles son los riesgos y consecuencias a las que pueden enfrentarse si eventualmente pudieran quedar envueltos en semejantes tramas. El supuesto de hecho que acabamos de describir nada tiene de imaginativo. La cuestión del amaño de partidos sacude desde hace varias décadas el deporte profesional y el tenis en particular. A la vista de algunos datos que daremos podemos afirmar que, a pesar de las medidas que ha adoptado el tenis profesional, la facilidad con la que cualquier persona perteneciente al mundo del tenis profesional, aunque no persiga ningún propósito ilícito, puede incurrir en una infracción por corrupción y la dureza de las sanciones que esperan a quienes, tras la sustanciación de un procedimiento, sean declarados culpables, el fenómeno sigue golpeando a nuestro deporte y hasta parece que el tenis español tiene un papel protagonista en esta lacra1. 1 A modo de ejemplo, CIFUENTES, P. (2016). A un 90% de los tenistas españoles le ofrecen amaños y un 70% acepta. Diario El Español consultado el 26 de marzo de 2017 en http://www.elespanol.com/deportes/20161201/174983543_0.html hace alusión a la llamada 'Operación Futures' desplegada hace aproximadamente un año por la Guardia Civil con 34 detenciones en 12 provincias españolas, entre ellos 6 tenistas. Si así fuera, consciente o inconscientemente, unos y otros porcentajes estarían expuestos a ser sancionados deportivamente por corrupción. MATCH FIXING EN TENIS: ANÁLISIS SOBRE EL AMAÑO DE PARTIDOS EN EL MUNDO DEL TENIS E-Coach-Revista Electrónica del Técnico de Tenis 2017; 28 (9): 43-50

The topic of corruption has recently moved from the periphery to the centre of social scientific attention. Notwithstanding the increased interest, research into corruption has been empirically limited and under-theorized. This study addresses that gap by providing an ethnographic account of football match-fixing in the Czech Republic. By qualitatively analysing both primary and secondary data, this study examines match-fixing and corruption through the lens of the concept of public secrecy. Three different, narrowly intertwined forms of match-fixing are identified: direct corruption, mediated corruption and meta-corruption. By conceptualizing match-fixing as a public secrecy, the study explores how the publicly secret nature of match-fixing is normalized and how the match-fixing complex is reinforced by a compromising complicity of social actors who are both victims and principals. Although this study focuses on a sport-related example, it has both theoretical and empirical implications for a sociological understanding of corruption outside the sphere of sport.

Págs. 91-102 SUMARIO: I. INTRODUCCIÓN. II. CONTENIDO ESENCIAL DE LAS DOS SENTENCIAS DEL «LANDESGERICHT DE KORNEUBURG». 1. la reclamación del actor. 2. la oposición de la demandada. 3. Hechos declarados probados y fundamentos jurídicos de la sentencia de instancia. III. FUNDAMENTOS JURÍDICOS DE LA SENTENCIA DE APELACIÓN. IV. RESULTADO DE LA PRÁCTICA DE LA PRUEBA PERICIAL ORDENADA POR EL TRIBUNAL DE APELACIÓN. V. CONCLUSIÓN. RESumEn: El amaño de partidos constituye una de las amenazas más importantes a la integridad del deporte. En los últimos quince años, el fenó-meno se ha visto incrementado por su conexión con el mercado de las apuestas. El autor estudia un paradigmático caso judicial resuelto por los tri-bunales civiles austríacos relacionado con la ma-nipulación de apuestas con ocasión de un partido de tenis profesional. AbSTRACT: Match-Fixing has became one of the most important threats to the sport integrity. In the last fifteen years, the issue has increased by his connection with the betting-market. The author studies a paradigmatic case law decided by the Austrian Civil Courts regarding bet-fixing on the occasion of a professional tennis-match. pAlAbRAS ClAvE: Amaño de partidos-Amena-zas para el tenis profesional-Tribunales civiles austríacos KEyWoRDS: Match-Fixing-Professional Tennis Threats-Austrian Civil Courts i. inTRoDuCCión Estudiando el tema del arreglo de partidos en el tenis, me topé con algu-nas informaciones periodísticas que referían un caso que, inmediatamente,

A group of four friends meets every week to watch a soccer match. Today they have
met again, a bit earlier than usual, and before the match starts, they are going to
discuss breaking news. There are serious suspicions that a game they have watched
some time ago, was fixed, and it is that piece of news that is an immediate cause of
their discussion. It happens that our friends, apart from watching sport, also read
books about watching sport, and they have learned from a bestselling book on that
topic that two of them share a partisan attitude, whereas the other two share a purist
attitude. But the piece of news allowed to reveal another distinction and another
coalition of members of our group. Let us listen to their discussion.

The growth of the online sports betting market has generated new risk areas and threats to sport integrity, such as match-fixing. In recent years, institutional concern to fight against the phenomenon has been intensified and a set of countermeasures has been adopted. One of the most widely implemented measures to protect integrity in sport is to ban athletes and sports players from betting on the competitions in which they are involved. In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice has become a crime under the new legislation. Despite the legal and sporting restrictions and the prevention programmes carried out for sport institutions to explain the gambling rules, there are many athletes who are putting bets on their own competitions and even in their own games. Through interviews with key informant actors and ethnographic fieldwork, this article describes betting patterns among sports actors in Portugal and explains the perceptions and incentives that lead them to bet in their own sports, competitions and games. The results show different conceptions of integrity between the normative discourse on legal and sport governance institutions and sports actors’ opinion, essentially, the premise that suggest a direct link between betting on one’s own games and manipulation of these games. In some cases, betting in one’s own games helps to strengthen fair play values. However, the spreading of online betting, together with the perception of inefficient controls in the implementation of sporting and legal regulations, creates opportunity structures for fixing matches and taking financial profit though gambling activities.