By: Ameya Naik
On 30th September, LIDS hosted a talk by Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery. Mr. Kos delivered a fascinating lecture on the issue of corruption in sports, which he described as a rapidly-evolving and challenging area of work. The primary challenge for this area of work is the lack of any clearly defined jurisdiction, offences, or enforcing authorities – making most law enforcement measures taken against corruption in sports ad hoc and difficult to coordinate, even with the efforts of bodies like the Working Group.
Mr. Kos outlined two broad areas where corruption is most likely to emerge in relation to sporting events: bidding and event organisation, and betting on various aspects of games. Among the former, broadly speaking, the larger the scale of the sporting event, the greater the scope for corruption; recent developments with FIFA (or the Sochi Winter Olympics ensuring adequate snow despite unseasonably warm weather) have brought these manner of offenses into focus. The precise manner in which FIFA’s infamously sordid dealings – large kickbacks to national football associations, dispensing extravagant per diems in cash at conventions – found their way into U.S. jurisdiction is a fascinating story, hinging almost on a chance detail of some transactions: not atypical of the ad hoc nature of law enforcement in this field.
The area of betting and match-fixing is marked, if anything, by even greater ambiguity. First, there are stark differences between national laws, in terms of whether betting is legal, on what sports, by whom, and under what conditions. Second, there is the sheer nature of sport itself – the appeal of watching any sporting event is precisely the uncertainty of the outcome, so who can say if a given result is genuine or a result of corruption? Third, there are myriad opportunities for both: betting and match-fixing. One need not alter the course of an entire match or tournament – small details (which player or side scores first, or how much time it takes them to do so, the exact manner of play involved, and so on) can all be the subject of large bets. Finally, there is the nature of the financial networks involved – global in scope, and (somewhat unexpectedly) insulated from the better-known channels of shadow banking and underground finance.
Taken together, he noted by way of conclusion, these features make sports organisations a most lucrative business that remains drastically under-regulated by law: a highly attractive prospect for both legitimate and criminal enterprises, and to the wide range of actors who operate in the grey area between those (already far from clearly-defined) categories.