The ‘Integrity in Sport’ workshop will be the first of its kind in Africa, with INTERPOL partnering with COSAFA to launch their programme on the continent.
Other English-speaking countries affiliated to COSAFA – Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia– will all participate in the INTERPOL/FIFA Training, Education and Prevention Initiative event in Johannesburg.
Senior INTERPOL and FIFA officials set to gross the event include Michaela Ragg, head of INTERPOL’s Integrity in Sport unit, Ralf Mutschke, Director of FIFA’s Security Division and Detlev Zenglein from FIFA’s Early Warning System programme.
The two-day Interpol workshop will bring together regional football administrators, players’ representatives, referees, betting regulators and law enforcement to improve awareness and understanding of corruption in football, the strategies used by its perpetrators and the methods to recognise, resist and report them.
COSAFA’s Media Officer, Lynda Greeff highlighted that: “Participants will get a look at the global match-fixing picture, and also be given an insight into how these syndicates operate. There will also be a general overview of the global sports betting market and insight into FIFA’s Early Warning System, its history and how it maps unusual betting trends around the world,” he said.
Added Greeff, “One of the lengthier parts of the course will be a look at good governance within football associations and effective anti-fraud rules, and how to educate players and club officials to be better placed to highlight fraudulent activity.”
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble mentioned that they are out to fight match-fixing through a united front with sporting personalities, hence the need for the workshop.
“With billions of dollars involved and more importantly the very reputation of sport itself at stake, it is vital that law enforcement presents a united front in not only ¬fighting this type of crime but to ensure that everyone involved from the rank and ¬file official to the star player is given the resources and training to counter the corrupt influences of transnational organised crime,” emphasized Noble.
There will also be discussions using practical examples as case studies, where participants will be asked to give their assessment of how a particular situation should be handled from an association point of view.
Examples of current match-fixing investigations taking place around the world through Interpol highlight the need to educate players and match officials as to the consequences of fraudulent action, and just what a global problem corruption is. These include:
CHINA: A Chinese court sentenced four soccer referees, including a former World Cup match official, to jail in February 2012 for their involvement in match-fixing and gambling. Around 60 local players, referees, coaches and officials were put on trial the previous December following a two-year investigation into match-¬fixing.
USA: In December 2011, FIFA con¬firmed it is investigating allegations of corruption in the 2010 CONCACAF Gold Cup, citing irregular betting patterns during the tournament – particularly those matches involving Grenada, El Salvador and Cuba.
ITALY: Atalanta player Andrea Masiello was arrested in April 2012 after reportedly admitting to receiving EUR 50 000 (USD 65 700) in illegal payments.
The defender, who was playing for Bari at the time, now faces a prison sentence. Eight of his former Bari teammates are also under investigation.
Italy made around 46 match-fixing related arrests in 2011.
SOUTH KOREA: A former coach and two former players are found dead – the most recent in April 2012 – in suspected suicides following a July
2011 clampdown on corruption. Forty-six players and 11 others were indicted on charges of match-fixing in the professional K-League.
ZIMBABWE: Around 100 players are suspended as of 2012 for alleged involvement in Asian betting syndicates linked to match-¬fixing. The scandal dubbed as ‘Asiagate’ involved players allegedly taking bribes to throw friendly matches between 2007 and 2009 in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Interpol is the world’s largest international police organisation, with 190 member countries. Its high-tech infrastructure of technical and operational support helps meet the growing challenges of fighting crime in the 21st century.
The aim is to ensure that police around the world have access to the tools and services necessary to do their jobs effectively. They provide targeted training, expert investigative support, and relevant data, and secure communications channels.
This combined framework helps police on the ground understand crime trends, analyse information, conduct operations and, ultimately, arrest as many criminals as possible.
In order to meet its goals and objectives, Interpol has established the Integrity in Sport unit at the General Secretariat in Lyon, France.
The dedicated team will develop and implement the programmed, and will form the basis of a training wing within the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore. To provide a continuum of learning over the next 10 years, the unit is researching and developing a variety of integral training courses and modules – including periodic national and regional workshops – tailored to the individual learning needs of the target groups, such as referees and young players. The ultimate aim is to prevent corruption in football before it can even begin.
Post published in: Football