I was listening to BBC radio this morning and heard this story about how FIFA are aware that the Nigerian team may have been involved in match fixing, and is being investigated.
A sports writer, Declan Hill, was interviewed. He has written this highly recommended book, The Fix (http://www.howtofixasoccergame.com/), and runs this blog discussing match fixing:
http://www.howtofixasoccergame.com/blog/.
What Declan had to say on BBC this morning is quite convincing.
FIFA has an early warning system on match fixing that relies on unusual movements in the betting market.
But the problem is that this focuses on the legitimate betting market, which is absolutley dwarfed by the illegitimate betting market.
In fact, this illegitimate betting market (controlled by Asian organised crime syndicates) is so massive that it not only dwarfs the legitimate betting market, it absolutley dwarfs FIFA itself. About $40 billion will be processed through the illegitimate betting market during this WC.
Add to that the following key elements:
1. teams from third world countries where players rarely get paid for NT duties;
2. refs from third world countries
3. the fact that refs control absolutely every aspect of a match, can allow and disallow goals on a whim with zero explanation, can give penalties on a whim, have them retaken, can send players off on a whim, and can end a match whenever they want
4. a game that is traditionally low scoring, especially in the early rounds of the WC where nil-all and 1-0 results are quite prevalent.
It's common knowledge that most of the Asian confederation is absolutley riddled with match fixing (that's the one we're in), and it's only a very small step for such large crime syndicates to get their claws into the WC.
Declan points out that he has corroborated evidence that for the last 20 years, these Asian match fixing syndicates have been at every level of world championships (U17, U20, Olympics, womens, etc).
So next time you ponder a match where neither team appears to have the energy or inclination to attempt to score, or where the only goal of the match has come about in bizarre circumstances, or where the winning goal has been disallowed in bizarre circumstances (e.g. Slovenia vs the US) - spare a thought for these Asian match fixing crime syndicates.
In both football & AFL teams the usual goal scorers (or goal missers) are easy to spot for crime syndicates.
ReplyDeleteThe syndicates don't have to target a whole team.
In some ways its potential an easier "fix" in AFL because there are so many goals and attempts being made each game.
Your post might have been more beneficial if you had offered us your insight into AFL as well, not just single out football.
Thanks for the comment Irene.
ReplyDeleteThis was a story that came to light soon after the World Cup, written by an investigative journalist who is an expert on bribes and corruption in soccer. In Asia, particularly in China, the problem is rampant.
There is less of a problem in Australian Football, although I have read reports of suspicions of bribery in one game back in 1924.
Why is it more difficult in Australian Football? There are 22 players who are regularly rotated during the game. There are something like a dozen coaches keeping an eye on all aspects of the game. In Australian Football, it's obvious within a few minutes if a player is playing at less than full capacity.
Then we have the difference in officiating: three field umpires plus an independent time keeper, and players can't be sent off the field.
In soccer, the one ref has enormous control over proceedings from keeping time, to disallowing goals, awarding penalities and sending players off the field.
Just at a quick glance it's obvious that it's more difficult to fix a game of Australian Football, not impossible, just more difficult.
Having said all that, at the very highest levels of soccer, in the main European comps, where players earn millions of dollars per annum, I would say that for a crime syndicate to fix such a match would be near impossible - it's mainly in lesser leagues where it's an issue.