By Andrew Warshaw
May 28 – The match-fixing epidemic that has swept through world football has been underlined by UEFA teaming up with Europol to combat organised crime. The European Union’s police agency says it is involved in nine separate investigations linked to match-fixing and will share information with UEFA on suspected rigging and illegal betting within Europe’s 54 national federations.
A working agreement was signed at UEFA headquarters by UEFA President Michel Platini and director of Europol, Rob Wainwright (pictured). Both sides are determined for the arrangement to have teeth rather than just be another exercise in mutual backslapping.
“With the development of football and the development of betting activities around football, that brought into play a lot of money and people interested by that money,” said Platini.
“Match-fixing is not a fantasy, it is a sad and serious reality. UEFA and its member associations know that football authorities do not have the means to deal with this problem by themselves. We cannot lead the investigation with our UEFA employees any more, we need a police, people taking care of that. I have been asking for that since 2007, as I became President, I wanted to have a Sports Police.
“We have to do everything to preserve the integrity of our games. Football has to be transparent, and maintain the magic of being a truly unpredictable game. Therefore, I am extremely happy to have the support of Europol. By joining forces, we will have more power.”
Europol has a sports corruption unit comprising of 15 EU members and two other countries. Early last year, a bombshell report released by the agency cited “more than 380” professional matches in 15 European countries believed to have been fixed by Asian-based crime syndicates.
According to Europol, the new arrangement with UEFA comprises “the mutual provision of expertise and constant consultation in the areas of match-fixing in football and related organised crime, as well as the exchange of information and knowhow related to those areas.”
Europol will also provide “expert assistance and advice to UEFA and its 54 national member associations on key aspects of contemporary criminal organisation in the area of match-fixing.”
The news came on the day the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ordered member associations to appoint integrity officers following a string of match-fixing incidents, the latest coming in Vietnam.
In a statement on its website, the AFC said it has set a deadline of June 30 for the new initiative to be put in place throughout the region.
”Responsibilities of the integrity officer are to establish and maintain integrity initiatives within the [member associations], receive information related to match-fixing matters within … and conduct inquiries or investigations as an administrative fact finder in coordination with AFC and relevant national law enforcement agencies,” a statement said.
“Match-fixing is a dangerous threat to the game, therefore the AFC along with its member associations strive to protect the integrity of its competitions.”
Australia’s media this week published claims apparently made in a book by the world’s most notorious match-fixer, Singapore’s Wilson Raj Perumal, that he had influenced the outcome of a 2010 friendly between Australia and Egypt.
Perumal, who has spent time in jail in Finland, has been linked to a spate of conspiracies in virtually every continent and was recently arrested again in Helsinki on an international arrest warrant though few details have been released.
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