After two years of work, and the
involvement of nearly 80 international experts, I am pleased to bring to your
attention the final report of the Sorbonne-ICSS Research Programme on Ethics
and Sport Security, a programme partnered with the ICSS.
Entitled “Fighting against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions”, the report aims to:
- draw up an inventory of the many forms of manipulation of sports competitions and decipher the logic of the stakeholders involved in this area;
- recommend operational solutions allowing the prevention and the repression of the manipulation of sports competitions
In fact, the recent developments in this area are worrying. Every year since 2010, and to take only the public sources (Interpol, Europol, polices forces and judicial institutions, regulators, betting operators or operators tasked with monitoring the market) between 300 and 700 sports events worldwide are suspected of being fixed. But how many other cases fall through the cracks without being identified?
In this regard, the initial findings of the report unveiled in May had already revealed that:
- the economic activity of sport represents almost 2% of the global GDP, i.e. between 800 and 900 billion Euros;
- over the past two decades, the number of operators offering online bets reached the threshold of 8,000 worldwide;
- the amounts of bets (legal and illegal) are estimated at between 200 and 500 billion Euros; with more than 80% of illegal bets;
- the money laundered by organised crime through sporting bets is estimated at between 100 and 140 billion Dollars per year;
- legal sports bets only provide 4 billion Euros of official income for States;
- of the 60 information programmes identified in 2013 worldwide, 75% were launched after 2011.
The final report highlights, among other things, that:
- the vast majority of the cases of manipulation of sports competitions are today linked to sports bets;
- current national or international prevention and repression tools are still widely disparate;
- albeit belatedly, States are beginning to take stock of the extent of the threat caused by the manipulation of sports competitions on their respective public policies as reflected, in particular, in the recent legislative and regulatory developments in the field [for example, in the United Kingdom (Gambling - Licensing and Advertising - Act 2014), in Singapore (a draft bill was recently proposed to drastically restrict the offer of online games), in New Zealand (the manipulation of sports competitions will soon be established as a criminal offence punishable by seven years of incarceration)];
- it is possible to suggest a new way of interpreting the economic rationality of the different actors(in particular for States, the sporting movement and betting operators);
- it is possible, in particular through a study of the national legislations from the angle of sports bets, to establish a classification of the countries according to their policy on sport integrity;
- similarly, it is possible, through a study of the tools developed by sports institutions to fight against the manipulation of sports competitions, to measure their degree of implication and their responsiveness in the face of this scourge;
- the limits of the current mechanisms for coordinating the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions require imagining and proposing new tools that should lead all stakeholders to respecting common principles.
By way of conclusion, the authors believe that the current measures for protecting sport integrity and reducing the influence of organised crime on this sector are unfortunately still insufficient. In this regard, the recently adopted Convention of the Council of Europe on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions constitutes an essential first step towards protecting sport integrity and more generally, the sustainability of sport as we know it.
Among the report’s key recommendations, the following are of particular importance:
- The urgent need for an effective cooperation between all stakeholders without ulterior motives;
- The introduction of a subtle balance between the protection of public order, sport autonomy and the functioning of the markets of sports bets and sports spectacles;
- An uncompromising fight against organised crime and illegal bets.
Entitled “Fighting against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions”, the report aims to:
- draw up an inventory of the many forms of manipulation of sports competitions and decipher the logic of the stakeholders involved in this area;
- recommend operational solutions allowing the prevention and the repression of the manipulation of sports competitions
In fact, the recent developments in this area are worrying. Every year since 2010, and to take only the public sources (Interpol, Europol, polices forces and judicial institutions, regulators, betting operators or operators tasked with monitoring the market) between 300 and 700 sports events worldwide are suspected of being fixed. But how many other cases fall through the cracks without being identified?
In this regard, the initial findings of the report unveiled in May had already revealed that:
- the economic activity of sport represents almost 2% of the global GDP, i.e. between 800 and 900 billion Euros;
- over the past two decades, the number of operators offering online bets reached the threshold of 8,000 worldwide;
- the amounts of bets (legal and illegal) are estimated at between 200 and 500 billion Euros; with more than 80% of illegal bets;
- the money laundered by organised crime through sporting bets is estimated at between 100 and 140 billion Dollars per year;
- legal sports bets only provide 4 billion Euros of official income for States;
- of the 60 information programmes identified in 2013 worldwide, 75% were launched after 2011.
The final report highlights, among other things, that:
- the vast majority of the cases of manipulation of sports competitions are today linked to sports bets;
- current national or international prevention and repression tools are still widely disparate;
- albeit belatedly, States are beginning to take stock of the extent of the threat caused by the manipulation of sports competitions on their respective public policies as reflected, in particular, in the recent legislative and regulatory developments in the field [for example, in the United Kingdom (Gambling - Licensing and Advertising - Act 2014), in Singapore (a draft bill was recently proposed to drastically restrict the offer of online games), in New Zealand (the manipulation of sports competitions will soon be established as a criminal offence punishable by seven years of incarceration)];
- it is possible to suggest a new way of interpreting the economic rationality of the different actors(in particular for States, the sporting movement and betting operators);
- it is possible, in particular through a study of the national legislations from the angle of sports bets, to establish a classification of the countries according to their policy on sport integrity;
- similarly, it is possible, through a study of the tools developed by sports institutions to fight against the manipulation of sports competitions, to measure their degree of implication and their responsiveness in the face of this scourge;
- the limits of the current mechanisms for coordinating the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions require imagining and proposing new tools that should lead all stakeholders to respecting common principles.
By way of conclusion, the authors believe that the current measures for protecting sport integrity and reducing the influence of organised crime on this sector are unfortunately still insufficient. In this regard, the recently adopted Convention of the Council of Europe on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions constitutes an essential first step towards protecting sport integrity and more generally, the sustainability of sport as we know it.
Among the report’s key recommendations, the following are of particular importance:
- The urgent need for an effective cooperation between all stakeholders without ulterior motives;
- The introduction of a subtle balance between the protection of public order, sport autonomy and the functioning of the markets of sports bets and sports spectacles;
- An uncompromising fight against organised crime and illegal bets.
Source: Press release
