Football Match-Fixing
Former Liverpool FC chief executive Rick Parry has urged for new, “tougher sanctions” on match-fixing, in a report commissioned by sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe. According to Parry, the review offers minister’s a way of “tackling the growing threat of corruption” in sport, with Parry recommending that the government take the “toughest possible approach” in order to “stamp out cheating”.
The review comes after a year of match-fixing allegations and, over the past eighteen months, 48 cases have been put before the Gambling Commission. The allegations have typically involved lower league teams, who may have believed that a supposed fixed-result would fly “under the radar” of both journalists and sports officials. Back in April 2009 though, Accrington Stanley, who play in Football League Two, hit the headlines after it was revealed five players from the team had bet on their opponents winning the match.
The report recommends that in order to prevent future betting irregularities, a “new code of conduct on sports betting integrity for all sports governing bodies” and “a system for capturing intelligence and report regularly to the new unit” should be introduced. Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe has suggested that he is keen to keep up the “momentum on this vitally important work”.
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