Precariousness and gambling, the cocktail that explains corruption in sport

The precariousness of athletes and the enormous amount of money that gambling moves – both legal and illegal – are the cocktail that explains much of the corruption in the sport, according to a United Nations report released today.

Illegal gambling moves around US $ 1.7 trillion, a figure close to what a developed economy like Italy generates in a year, according to the first Global Report on Corruption in Sports, released on Thursday in Vienna.

According to the document, although the corruption In sport it is not a new phenomenon, globalization and technology have revolutionized the way in which competitions are followed and bets are made, opening up new possibilities for organized crime.

Economic precariousness …

Despite the fact that the media focuses on the stars and their millionaire contracts, the sporting reality in the world is the precariousness of most athletes, which makes them more vulnerable to participate in possible manipulations of the competition.

For example, the International Tennis Federation claims that only 600 of the nearly 14,000 players who compete in its tournaments earned enough money to cover their expenses, recalls the report.

Although between 2010 and 2018 the revenues of the five major European football leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) increased by up to 75%, in the rest of global competitions, especially in developing countries, there was a decrease of up to 16%.

The situation in minority sports or athletics is much worse and the confinements and suspensions from competitions by the COVID-19 they have made the situation worse, according to the UN.

The lower-ranking competitions -because they are not so closely followed or controlled- are the primary objective of the mafias that seek to fix results and for this they exploit the financial needs of some athletes.

As an example, a single match rigged in 2004 in the Champions League run-up by Macedonian FK Pobeda against Armenian FC Pyunik would have generated some 300,000 euros in revenue for organized crime, according to the UN.

The Macedonian club was suspended for eight years from European club competitions and its managers sanctioned for life.

… and bets

Another factor is the enormous amount of money that gambling moves – both legal and illegal – and that thanks to the internet they can be made from anywhere in the world on practically any competition.

“Although there is a long history of manipulation of sports competitions, the advent of sports betting on the Internet has exacerbated the scale of the phenomenon,” says the HIM-HER-IT.

The number of indications of possible manipulation “has increased significantly since the 2000s, in a trend from which no country, discipline or sport level escapes.”

Many of the criminal organizations that are dedicated to fixing matches have their origin in Asia, which concentrates 65% of the world betting market.

Organized crime takes advantage of this largely opaque global market, located in tax havens and sometimes using hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies, to boost their profits and launder money from other illegal activities.

The report is also critical of the “normalization” of the betting culture thanks to the sponsorship by gambling companies of major sporting events, competitions or clubs, which is cause for “concern” due to possible conflicts of interest .

“In general, the institutionalization of legal (or tolerated) gambling in sport has normalized gambling and its related risks, and has exposed athletes to manipulators,” the report summarizes.

More international cooperation …

The global nature of the crime makes it more difficult for it to be prosecuted, which is why the UN calls for greater international cooperation and establishing the manipulation of competitions as a specific crime.

It also demands to improve the exchange of information and good practices between sports organizations and the courts, as well as to use technological advances to monitor the betting markets in order to detect suspicious activities.

… and more equality

The Report also points out that to improve the fight against corruption, equal pay is necessary between male and female athletes, who have worse conditions.

The UN recalls that the wage gap in the sports industry is one of the largest in the world and sets out as an example that the highest annual salary in the American NBA in 2018 was almost US $ 38 million, while in the professional female competition in The US was below US $ 118,000.

Improving the salary situation of athletes and that more women form part of the directorships of clubs and international organizations are crucial to fight against corruption, says the report.