INTERPOL and IOC boost sports corruption investigations in the Nordic-Baltic region

TALLINN, Estonia – INTERPOL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have conducted a Law Enforcement Investigators’ Training for agencies across the Nordic-Baltic region, with a focus on sports and competition manipulation, transnational investigations, evidence collection and evaluation, betting monitoring and working with sports authorities.

The two-day training (2 and 3 July) brought together 40 representatives from law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies in Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden. It was hosted in close cooperation with the Estonian Central Criminal Police, with strong support from the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus of each country involved, as well as experts from the International Ice Hockey Federation and the IntegriSport Erasmus+ Project.

Opening the training, Aivar Alavere, Head of Central Criminal Police, Estonian Police and Border Guard Board welcomed participants, reminding them that fraud and corruption were just as present in sport as in other areas of society. He stressed the importance of raising awareness at all levels, including with athletes, coaches, federations, sponsors and betting offices.

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During the session, participants learned how INTERPOL’s policing capabilities and Match Fixing Task Force (IMFTF) could boost their efforts to tackle competition manipulation.

The IMFTF supports member countries in match-fixing investigations and operations in all sports, and maintains a global network of specialized investigators who share information, intelligence and best practices. The IMFTF currently has 84 member units, with more than 120 national points of contact worldwide.

This is the fifth such course delivered by INTERPOL and the IOC this year, who recently announced the expansion of their joint global training programme until 2021.