The Malta FA’s drive to combat match-fixing in football is gathering momentum after the association’s Executive Committee (Exco), spearheaded by president Norman Darmanin Demajo, yesterday approved the creation of an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Taskforce.
The proposal to set up a task force to serve as a platform for discussion, exchange of information and best practice on a national scale, was put forward by Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA general secretary who, along with Franz Tabone, the association’s integrity officer, is spearheading a campaign aimed at coaxing a robust response from the authorities when it comes to tackling bribery in sport.
The new task force is intended to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the fight against match-fixing and organised crime by co-ordinating the efforts of the main stakeholders, such as sports organisations, national authorities and the local gaming authority.
Contacted by Times of Malta after yesterday’s Executive Committee meeting, Vassallo described the creation of the anti-corruption task force as “an important step by our association that has recognised the threats posed to our society by criminal organisations through their illicit activities”.
“Among these activities are those related to match-fixing and illegal gambling,” Vassallo added.
“This is why the Malta FA is taking a leading role in creating new structures and frameworks so that sports organisations and the relevant authorities strengthen their efforts to prevent, detect and educate on bribery in football and illegal betting.
“At present, we are exposed to this phenomenon and we need the backing of the legislative authorities to protect the integrity and transparency of sport in a democratic society.”
Betting can be regulated in the same way as the Malta Gaming Authority regulates the licences of many betting operators. However, there are also unlicensed betting companies worldwide that usually offer more attractive odds than licensed operators.
In an interview with Times of Malta, published earlier this month, investigative journalist Declan Hill, universally regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on match-rigging, said that the most notorious match-fixing organisations are based in Asia.
Hill claimed that Asian fixers are responsible for manipulating football matches around the world, including Malta.
It is a known fact that many countries in the Asian continent don’t have a legislative framework to monitor and control betting operations.
Vassallo dropped a bombshell on Replay, Net TV’s Sunday football show, when he revealed that, in 2013 alone, legal bets on Maltese football totalled between €50 and €70 million.
Set against the standard of the domestic competitions, this figure might look staggering but it is based on statistics gathered by Sportradar, the Swiss company engaged by the Malta FA to collect data on betting in football.
Detection system
Times of Malta has information that, every year, the Malta FA monitor more than 300 games from the Premier League and Division One through live scouts that are deployed in different stadia.
Sportradar compare the data provided with the betting patterns on the matches under scrutiny, creating a database that is passed on to the Malta FA.
This is called the betting fraud detection system.
According to UEFA figures, the betting industry generates a total of €750 billion annually.
Football alone attracts €400 billion worth of bets every year with 70 per cent originating from the Asian market.
Betting on last season’s Champions League final between Spanish rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid tipped the €1 billion mark.
Sport has been rocked by several match-fixing scandals in the last few years, especially football, but the scourge of bribery and illegal betting has also spread to other disciplines, including tennis, snooker, ice hockey, rugby, cricket and also the 2002 Winter Games, held in Salt Lake City.