EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON INTEGRITY IN SPORT Outcome Statement

Rome, 18 January 2013 Match-fixing: The ugly side of the beautiful game An international conference for representatives from national European Football Associations and law enforcement
A two-day international conference focusing on enhancing the prevention and investigation of match-fixing in football was held in Rome, Italy on 17 and 18 January 2013. The conference was organized by INTERPOL within the framework of the INTERPOL / FIFA Training, Education and Prevention Initiative, with the active support of the Italian Department of Public Security, UEFA and FIFA. Some 200 delegates from 50 countries and 20 international organizations came together in Rome to discuss the threats posed to football by match-fixing and ways to further improve its prevention and investigation. Delegates included officials from international organizations including FIFA, UEFA, FIFPro, SportAccord and INTERPOL, senior representatives from national football associations, integrity officers, players representatives, betting organizations, gambling regulatory authorities and law enforcement. During the conference speakers looked at current and anticipated future trends in match fixing, the impact the Asian betting markets are having and the adverse influence organized crime has on football. In addition, ways of enhancing good governance in the football family, the importance of protecting players and initiatives in training, education, prevention and investigation were highlighted. The conference recognized the challenge posed by match fixing in many countries in Europe. It noted with concern the involvement of organized crime and professional criminals in match-fixing and associated illegal activities including irregular betting, as illustrated by the fact that a number of INTERPOL Red Notices pertaining to this subject have been issued. The conference also recognized that match-fixing is a global issue having a negative effect upon football, its participants and the general public who watch sport as an entertainment in the belief that it is a fair and honest game. Match-fixing is an ugly side of the beautiful game. Delegates welcomed recent developments to tackle match-fixing in football both internationally and nationally, not least the initiative within UEFA to appoint integrity officers within national football associations with specific responsibilities to prevent match-fixing, and resolved to actively support the implementation of the INTERPOL training, education and prevention programme.

In addition, the importance of having internationally consistent legislation regarding sporting fraud was identified. In this regard, delegates supported the development of the draft convention on the manipulation of sports being prepared by the Council of Europe. In order to tackle match-fixing more effectively, delegates recognized: The need to continue building effective partnerships between all the stakeholders who can contribute to the development of effective procedures at international and national levels (including football associations, law enforcement, gambling regulatory authorities, betting companies, players and referees associations and government departments); The importance of establishing and using information-sharing mechanisms to identify what information is required, where it can be obtained, how it can be stored, analysed and disseminated in a timely way to enable the various stakeholders to use it effectively both to prevent and investigate match-fixing; The development of coordination procedures, especially at the national level, to ensure that the best decisions can be made about who should take forward activities in the area of prevention and investigation of match-fixing, including the identification of national points of contact within all agencies; The need to develop and implement a broad range of prevention activities through education and training to the various participants in football (players, officials and administrators), especially young players; The importance of being proactive in both the prevention and investigation of match-fixing and irregular betting associated with football in order to minimize its adverse effects on the game, its participants and the public.

In conclusion, delegates thanked those involved in the organization of the event and the Italian authorities for hosting this valuable conference.