Integrity in Sport

Integrity in sport is under threat from corruption — including scandals, fraud, rumours and criminal investigations — infiltrating various sports associations around the world. Many of these issues are caused by the manipulation of sports events for monetary gain through regular and irregular betting channels.

And with the sophistication of Internet gambling networks international sports gambling has become extremely easy and accessible. Estimates on the amounts of money made through illegal betting alone run into hundreds of millions of Euros each year.

The problem of match-fixing poses a danger to more than just the reputations and livelihoods of sports professionals and associations involved; with relatively little risk for criminals to be detected match-fixing has now become a global threat with large amounts of money involved used for other illegal activities.

INTERPOL’s response

In May 2011, INTERPOL entered into a 10-year initiative with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to develop and implement a global training, education and prevention programme with a focus on regular and irregular betting as well as match-fixing.

To achieve this goal we launched a dedicated Integrity in Sport unit to develop and implement the training which will be the basis for the creation of a training wing within the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore.

The objective of this program is to improve key individual’s awareness and understanding of the phenomenon, the strategies used by its perpetrators and the methods to detect and counteract them.

Programme goals:

• To educate and train key actors in football on how to recognize, resist and report attempts to corrupt or fix matches
• To better prepare law enforcement officers on  how to investigate and cooperate in corruption or match-fixing related cases.

In order to deliver on the programme goals, INTERPOL has identified three vital areas:

• Training
• Education
• Prevention

Training: to focus on the protection of the identified Key Actors by ensuring that they have undertaken certified anti-corruption training sessions and that law enforcement officers are better prepared to cooperate and share information related to these investigations.

Education: to build a knowledge base on anti-corruption/match-fixing related issues (‘center of excellence’), to provide a better understanding of the issues, and to design updated  training content addressing the identified needs. This will be the basis for the delivery of training and the development of prevention strategies.

Prevention: to enhance Key Actors awareness of the problem and empower them to recognize, resist and report attempts to corrupt or fix matches.

The Integrity in Sport team are in the process of developing target oriented e-learning programmes which will be coupled with in-person training for the key target groups (players, referees) of match-fixers.

In order to start this process and to ensure that our plans meet the real needs of the respective target groups, regional and national workshops will be hosted in a number of pilot countries to better understand the current status and possible challenges in maintaining integrity in sport. The results will form the basis for the training package.

News and Media releases

07 March 2013

Croatian police chief visit to INTERPOL focuses on reinforcing border security

21 February 2013

Match-fixing suspect arrested following close police cooperation between Singapore and Italy via INTERPOL

21 February 2013

Match-fixers target of expanded INTERPOL global task force

21 February 2013

INTERPOL conference says coordination essential to combat match-fixing

20 February 2013

Addressing organized crime threats to match-fixing focus of INTERPOL conference

14 February 2013

CONCACAF chief during INTERPOL visit pledges support to investigate allegations of match-fixing in Latin America

25 January 2013

CONCACAF hosts INTERPOL-FIFA Integrity in Sport workshop

18 January 2013

INTERPOL conference highlights partnerships and training as key in combating match-fixing

17 January 2013

INTERPOL, FIFA and UEFA take joint stand against match-fixing at groundbreaking Rome conference

28 November 2012

Stamping out football corruption through education focus of INTERPOL experts meeting in Singapore

12 November 2012

Protecting sport from organized crime the focus of INTERPOL panel at International Anti-Corruption Conference

17 October 2012

INTERPOL applauds appointment by Aston Villa of Italian footballer who exposed match-fixing

28 August 2012

Combating match-fixing and corruption focus of INTERPOL workshop in Southern Africa

08 August 2012

Tackling match-fixing and corruption focus of INTERPOL workshop for Central America and Mexico

18 July 2012

Arrests across Asia in INTERPOL-led operation targeting illegal soccer gambling networks

04 July 2012

Dutch football association visits INTERPOL to boost sports integrity cooperation

02 July 2012

INTERPOL chief praises safe conclusion of EURO 2012 in Ukraine

28 June 2012

INTERPOL Chief gives security perspective on London Olympics in AP television news report

09 June 2012

UEFA European Football Championship safety an INTERPOL priority

25 April 2012

Keeping sport clean needs enhanced policing and prevention, INTERPOL Chief tells summit

13 April 2012

Finland hosts first INTERPOL-FIFA sports integrity workshop

05 March 2012

INTERPOL and Italian National Police launch inaugural high-level seminar under FIFA grant to fight match-fixing

02 March 2012

INTERPOL Chief praises appointment of Ralf Mutschke as head of newly-created FIFA Security Division

09 May 2011

FIFA makes historic contribution to INTERPOL in long-term fight against match-fixing