Combatting match fixing through education and training

It is widely acknowledged that match fixing is one of the greatest threats to the integrity of sport, affecting the sports and sports betting sectors. Speaking at the recent SBC Summit North America, GLMS President Ludovico Calvi joined the panel that was looking at sport integrity and how to build a new integrity ecosystem. He reinforced the point that a global multistakeholder cooperation involving diverse key stakeholders at domestic and international level is vital to succeed in the fight against sport corruption. The panel agreed that most events attracting suspicious betting were lower-level, such as minor-league tennis and soccer and that removing them from legal betting operators books was not necessarily the answer. On this point, Calvi stressed that education and prevention were the solution.
Combatting match fixing through education and training


Monitoring and sharing data

Sports competition manipulation is complex, often transnational and can have far-reaching consequences.

GLMS works with many partners around the world, who are all involved in the united effort to maintain sports integrity and stop sports competition manipulation. Its three core activities cover:

– Education and prevention programs – organizing workshops, training sessions and sports educational projects, together with law enforcement (Integriball, IntegriSport). Collaboration for policy making with intergovernmental and sports organizations.

– Monitoring, detecting, analysing – sports competitions; exchanging information with members, which may be used in legal proceedings for match-fixing.

– Stakeholder and policy making – participates in the elaboration of regulatory standards, guidebooks and shares data and intel at key tournaments and with all stakeholders in sports ecosystem.

Everyone has a role to play

Different stakeholders belonging to the united effort to stop match-fixing are the athletes, teams, coaches and trainers, sports leagues, national and international organizations, sports betting operators, regulators, law enforcement and legal representatives.

This great effort requires the appropriate legal infrastructure and established frameworks to enable the gathering, analysis and timely sharing of data and intel; people with the training to manage the data, as well as lead investigations and prosecute the perpetrators.

Fight the Fix program

In addition to this process, awareness-raising and capacity building trainings and information sessions are held regularly in the different markets, which consider national laws and other aspects specific to each country. These aim to prevent sports competition manipulation in the first place and prepare all stakeholders, so that they know how to proceed if alerted to suspicious activity.

One such example is the UEFA Academy Fight the Fix program, which starts this September and offers in-depth knowledge of sports competition manipulation and provide latest developments and monitoring tools. Participants will benefit from the experience of industry experts as they run through the conditions and procedures of investigation and prosecution, from A to Z. The hands-on approach involves small groups working on a fictious match-fixing case throughout the course. Register and find out more.