Federbet ANNUAL FIXED MATCHES REPORT 2016 BRUSSELS, 14 JUNE 2016 Federbet Annual Fixed Matches Report Presented at the European Parliament CONTENTS • Introduction • Countries in which it has been impossible to bet in the last season • Season analysis - 2015/2016 • How to understand odds • Annex with suspicious matches in diferent sports and countries www.federbet.com | 2 Federbet Annual Fixed Matches Report INTRODUCTION A year later, the landscape of corruption remains unchaged There have been police investigations in Portugal, Malta and Italy, surfacing evidence of connections between mafia organizations and match-fixing; matches have been distorted in all categories, including youth and women’s sporting events; an Albanian team—involved in several fixed matches over the years — attended the preliminary round of the Champions League and the main draw of the Europa League, spreading the virus to UEFA’s major tournaments; there have been suspects in the manipulation of qualifications for the Euro under 21,and the World Cup .... Football is the world’s most loved sport. It is a sport that is not only loved by its supporters, but also organisations specialized in the falsification of matches and tournaments. But football is not the only sport that is popular among match manipulators. The Fedebet 2016 report found a clear increase in cases of match-fixing in other sports, including tennis—in which the problem is endemic—basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, handball, table tennis and hockey. In a majority of cases, the protagonists were young and female athletes. In this landscape, in which manipulators have established themselves in several disciplines and at various levels, Federbet found almost total passivity within sport institutions. In the 2015-2016 season, every suspicious match was reported to the appropriate national association. Although some responded to our individual reports, they have never kept us informed about the progress of their investigations. However, there was one exception last season: the Federation of Croatian volleyball. In response to our reports, they requested us 5,000€ to investigate their case. The passive response of national sport institutions clearly enables further match-fixing attempts, perpetuating a climate of impunity that contradicts statements made by those same organizations. The most alarming element of the 2015-2016 season is, in fact, the recidivism: as teams and athletes that were involved in suspected cases in the past have not been thoroughly investigated or penalised for their actions. There is still some hope for sports. For instance, a new law against match-fixing has been approved by the Ukrainian parliament, as one of the countries most afected by this epidemic. Another example is the League of Soccer Serie B in Italy—a competition at the centre of match- fixing incidents in the past—that has developed a plan for monitoring and training, and a prevention program. The Real Games initiative, which is sponsored by the Latvian Basketball League as an Erasmus project, is also an example. Significant as well is the intervention of the Spanish La Liga, which has taken steps to monitor third division matches, responding to the passivity of the Spanish Football Federation. www.federbet.com | 3 Federbet Annual Fixed Matches Report COUNTRIES in which it is impossible to bet Albania, Malta, Canada www.federbet.com | 4 IN FOOTBALL, THE EPIDEMIC HAS NOT RETREATED SEASON ANALYSIS The “Dirty Soccer” investigation, initiated by a Catanzaro Prosecutor and executed between 2014 and 2015, re- vealed cases of match-fixing in the Italian Lega Pro (Third Division), the Maltese football championship, basketball matches in Serbia and football in China. One year later, in the same countries and in the same championships, we discovered other suspicious cases—a clear sign that the match-fixing industry is still thriving and has not abated in the face of police action. In addition, we illuminated the re- surgence of cases in the Third Division of football in Spain. The present situation in China is extremely distressing, given the country’s tremendous investment in football both domestically and abroad. These investments are not ac- companied by support of an efective program to prevent match-fixing. The ‘perfect’ fixed match took place between Nei Mongol Zhongyou and Meizhou Wuhua in China League One (Second Division) on May 16, 2016. It was not the only one, as other suspicious events were detected in the Chinese championships, and the efects exceeded Chinese borders. For instance, Pavia (an Italian Lega Pro team) and the Portuguese Oriental Club (Second Division), both Chinese-owned, were also at the centre of suspicious matches. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS Champions and the Europa League A major protagonist in Europe is the Skenderbeu: the Champions of the Albanian football league were involved in a number of suspicious matches in the Champions League preliminaries, and then, relegated in the Europa League, the team played suspicious matches against Worldwide and European Sporting Lisbon and Lokomotiv Moscow.. In the last four On 11th June 2015, after the publication of the 2015 years, Federbet has reported the Skenderbeu for several Federbet report, Laos and Myanmar were the subject of suspected cases of betting odds before and during its a suspected fixed match in the classification for the next matches. UEFA opens a formal investigations only at the World Cup in Russia. Another suspicious event occurred end of may. in the Malta-Montenegro under 21 in the classification for the European Championship. This case was particularly serious, as it demonstrated the progression of match- fixing, which spread from a national scale to the European continent, and finally worldwide. www.federbet.com | 5 Friendly Matches The lack of education at the level of youth sports, compounded with an absence of preventive systems, Federbet also notes this year that friendly matches make any athlete susceptible to blackmail by the mafia and are privileged terrain for match-fixing. If the controls match-fixing experts—as athletes who carry on the same and preventive measures are inadequate in ofcial conduct as professionals. competitions, they are still more lax in friendly matches. This year, we emphasize two particular cases in which In women’s sports, we found some suspicious matches in the prime suspect could be the referee. These cases are: the Russian handball league and in tennis especially, as the Wehen - Moengladbach Am and Cluji - Ufa. In the latter, the athletes are often very young and impressionable. referee ended the match prematurely, since he claimed to be injured. As a result, all the match odds were invalidated. It could be an option that the game was not progressing in his favour. Not just football The tennis courts have become privileged terrain not only for match-fixing, but experimentation as well. Manipulators Youth and Women’s Championships: Match-fixing do not only bet on the final results or even the performance knows no limits based on age or sex of a set, but also the break in specific games. The latest trend, detected in recent weeks, indicates the desire Non-existent controls, a low level of education, and absent to manipulate the match to finish at 40-40. A series of or low remunerations are the ingredients that make mutations demonstrates the increasing specialisation and match-fixing extremely tempting in youth and women’s great lengths undertaken by tennis match manipulators. championships. Federbet had reported this phenomenon last year, and this year we have discovered it again in youth Federbet also detected a suspicious Table Tennis match in championships in Ukraine and Romania. We have also the Olympic qualifying tournament, featuring the Bulgarian located an additional problem within these countries: the Stanislav Golovanov, which had also been involved in a athletes involved in match-fixing attempts in youth leagues suspicious match with the Austrian Bundesliga. Further continue to be at the centre of suspicious matches in the cases have been discovered in Israel’s volleyball league, as professionals leagues. well as in Basketball, Hockey and Handball (See Annex ). www.federbet.com | 6 Federbet Annual Fixed Matches Report HOW TO UNDERSTAND ODDS Fixing matches are directly related with bet odds 1 X 2: classic bet on the outcome of the game. HT/FT: bet on the outcome at the end of the first half and at the end of full time. Over and Under: total number of goals scored during the match. Over 2.5: at least 3 goals scored in total; Over 3.5: at least 4 goals scored in total; etc. Under 2.5: a maximum of 2 goals scored in total; Under 3.5: a maximum of 3 goals scored in total; etc. Handicap: a disadvantage attribution of the favourite team. Handicap - 1, the favourite team starts with a goal disadvantage. If the game ends in a 1–0 win for the favourite team, the final result is a draw (X) and not a home win (1) as in the classic bet. Combo: Holding two contemporary bets, such as a home win (1) and a Handicap or Over and Under bet. www.federbet.com | 7 Annex Football Suspicious Matches BELARUS DATE TEAMS FINAL RESULT SPECIALITY Zvedza BGU Minsk - Krumkachy 12.07.2015 0 - 2 Over, 1,5 Minsk 12.07.2015 Slonim - Orsha 3 - 0 Slonim win 22.07.2015 Lida - Kobrin 7 - 2 Lida -1,5 & Over 2,5 06.09.2015 Isloch Minsk - Gomelzhedortrans 2 - 1 Isloch Minsh win 06.09.2015 Kobrin - Baranovichi 2 - 2 Baranovichi win CYPRUS DATE TEAMS FINAL RESULT SPECIALITY 26.09.2015 Apeol Nicosia - Aris Limassol 4 - 0 Apoel Nicosia -1,5 &