The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has identified illegal betting as the number-one factor fueling corruption in sports.

The UN drug agency also identified fraudulent manipulation of competitions and the involvement of organised crime in sporting work as other factors fueling corruption in sports globally.

UNODC, in a statement on Saturday, said that the agency, in its just-concluded International Anti-Corruption Conference in Atlanta, U.S., noted an increase in illegal betting.

It pointed to a dramatic increase in illegal betting, fuelled by the billions of dollars flowing through professional sports as well as globalisation and technological advances.

The discussions at the conference built on the ground-breaking Global Report on Corruption in Sport, produced by the UNODC in 2021.

UNODC, which is at the forefront of international efforts to support governments and sports organisations in preventing and punishing offences in sport through its Programme to Protect Sport from Corruption and Economic Crime, estimates that up to $1.7 trillion is wagered on illicit betting markets controlled by organised crime.

Speaking at a session on sport and corruption at the conference, James Porteous, Research Head of the Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime, said that illegal betting is now the “number one factor fueling corruption in sports.”

He pointed out that many of the regulations were drafted in the 19th century and are not fit for the internet world.

Humaid Al Ameemi, coordinator of the anti-corruption unit of INTERPOL (the International Criminal Police Organisation, an intergovernmental body), explained that manipulation of sporting competitions, colloquially known as match-fixing, is a highly organised crime involving money laundering and other illegal activities and called for improved data sharing.

Al Ameemi described the manipulation of competitions as a “gateway to crime.”

Also, Joseph Gillespie, chief of the transnational organised crime threats unit at the FBI (the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation), expanded on the theme, emphasising that the Bureau has a keen interest in addressing corruption in sport.

Mr Gillespie said the Bureau had a keen interest in addressing corruption in sport as it provides organised crime with opportunities to make profit through extortion, illegal betting, and other unlawful activities.

INTERPOL, UNODC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have collaborated on a guide for policymakers to help them address and effectively investigate competition manipulation.

Anita DeFrantz, a member of the IOC and a medal winner at the 1976 Games in Montreal, underlined the importance of strong collaboration between sporting organisations and law enforcement agencies in ensuring integrity and credibility.

She highlighted the role of the International Partnership Against Corruption in Sport (IPACS), which includes international sports organisations, governments, and inter-governmental bodies, including UNODC.

As the world’s most popular sport, awash with huge sums of money, football is particularly prone to corruption.

Even the sport’s world governing body, FIFA, has faced criminal accusations and scandals, most notably in 2015, when several FIFA officials were arrested at a prominent Swiss hotel.

Following the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into corruption in FIFA in 2016, the international community’s attention to corruption and crime in sports has increased significantly, along with calls to act.

The FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, delivered a video message to the conference in which he said that protecting football from corruption and ensuring sporting justice is the most important topic for the organisation.

“Football is a multi-billion dollar global industry, which makes it a potential target for corruption and other kinds of criminal activity, and that is something that we should avoid and combat to ensure that the playing field is always level,” Mr Infantino said.

He said a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FIFA and UNODC had been beneficial in developing over 60 projects linked to anti-corruption, notably the Global Integrity Programme addressing match-fixing, “a platform that facilitates important information exchange between all those combating corruption in all walks of life.”

In the wake of the programme, which involved training over 400 Football Integrity Officers and government officials and tackling competition manipulation, UNODC took part in the Qatar FIFA World Cup Integrity Task Force to monitor 64 matches for match manipulation.

(NAN)