Sports betting and corruption: How to preserve the - SportAccord

Sports betting and corruption: How to preserve the integrity of sport
performance, fair play. More fundamentally, it is the negation of the glorious uncertainty of sport .
In its Code of Ethics, the Olympic movement prohibits any form of participation in, or support or
promotion of, sports betting in connection with the Olympic Games. The issue is raised in the first
section of the text, in the obligations relating to dignity 89 : “In the context of betting, participants in
the Olympic Games must not, by any manner whatsoever, infringe the principle of fair play, show nonsporting
conduct, or attempt to influence the result of a competition in a manner contrary to sporting
ethics”.
The manipulation of matches is a major risk for the image of sport in general, and for all players and
sports. A scandal can have a long-lasting impact on the credibility of an organisation or discipline, at
both national and international level. Furthermore, maintaining the appeal of a sport is a major
economic issue for federations and clubs alike, because the possibility of having resources (sponsors,
TV rights, advertising, ticket sales etc.) depends on the interest of the public.
It is difficult for a sporting institution to communicate on the topic of corruption linked to sports
betting because it needs to fight against the phenomenon, but at the same time not give the impression
that the sport is excessively corrupt. The sports movement is therefore still highly reticent about
unveiling scandals. In most cases it prefers to settle disciplinary matters internally whilst trying to
limit communication. Another reality is that the sports movement also struggles to assess the scale of
the risk, hence the importance of anticipation and prevention.
Economic globalisation has for several decades strongly fuelled a tendency to mutate sport into sport
business. This applies in many fields and is reflected in the colossal sums invested in building
infrastructure, holding major sporting events, sponsorship contracts and player transfers. Media
coverage of sport has also played a major role, generating exploitation rights and attracting private
individuals en masse. The result of this sporting geo-economy has been to create economic
dependencies for the sports movement.
In the matter of regulation, the responsibility to act lies with the managing bodies of the world of sport
(federations, clubs, associations) and they need to have a concerted action which targets the grassroots
(players, trainers, referees). They need to ensure the integrity of the entire chain of people involved.
From this point of view, one of the difficulties relating to the scope of the action lies in the many and
varied levels of activity within the institutional sports network. From international federations to
national organisations, clubs to professional athletes associations, there are many people involved.
Federations are responsible for the competitions they organise, clubs are responsible for managing
their assets, and players are responsible for their individual and/or collective performance.
The action of an international federation can have only a limited impact on national federations, which
remain free to retain their own organisation and regulatory procedures.
89 IOC Code of Ethics, Article A, paragraphs 5&6 (http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/Code-Ethique-2009-
WebEN.pdf)
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