World Cup Fixes

06/05/2014 - 11h01

The "New York Times" has published a detailed report on the vulnerability of the World Cup to match fixing by a Singapore based syndicate which has infiltrated the upper reaches of global football to exploit it for betting purposes.

The London "Sunday Times," has examined allegations that Qatar's choice to host the World Cup in 2022 was the result of bribes paid to African members of the FIFA's selection committee, focusing on the role of Mohamed bin Hammam, the Qatari, who is a former FIFA's vice-president.

Bin Hammam planned to stand against Sepp Blatter in 2011 for the presidency of FIFA, but in 2012 he was banned for life by FIFA after a blizzard of bribery allegations.

The "Sunday Times" claims that bin Hammam channeled secret payments from a US$5 million slush fund he controlled to secure the votes for Qatar among FIFA's 24 man ruling committee, based on a catch of hundreds of millions of documents leaked to the newspaper. The "Sunday Times" promises more revelations this weekend.

The "New York Times" two part investigation examines the role of Tan Seet Eng, also known as Dan Tan, whose Singapore based syndicate fixes football matches by bribing a corrupt network of football players, referees, and coaches. Gamblers are given the opportunity to bet on a higher or lower number of goals.

Players can be paid US$20,000 to throw a game. The turnover of the gambling syndicate is estimated at US$1 billion per match. Organized crime is said to launder some US$ 85 billion though these scams each year. Mr Tan is now in prison in Singapore. He is unlikely to face trail. His betting cartel continues to flourish.

The "NYT" and the "Sunday Times" show that African officials, referees, and players are involved in these fixes. But the gamblers are not Africans, they are Europeans and Asians. Europol (The European Union's law enforcement agency) estimates that between 2008 and 2011 there were 680 suspicious matches, including World Cup qualifiers, as well as matches in some of Europe's leading football leagues.

FIFA expects to collect US$4 billion from the World Cup though broadcast rights,sponsorship deals, and ticket sales. This is dwarfed the trillion dollars involved in clandestine Asian football betting.

FIFA's chief ethics investigator, Michael Garcia, will complete his investigation of bribery and corruption by next Monday. He has spent 18 months interviewing those involved in the race to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. He will not examine any of the "Sunday Times" documents. Two of the failed bidders for the 2022 World Cup, Australia and Japan, have called for the bidding race to be rerun.

Qatar has said that "Mohamed bin Hammam played no official or unofficial role in Qatar's 2022 bid committee." Garcia's findings will inform FIFA president Sepp Blatter's decision on whether to order a re-vote. But at 78, Sepp Blatter is standing for a fifth term as head of FIFA; So don't hold your breath that anything will improve at FIFA in the near future.