European betting agencies call for independent global sports anti-corruption agency

ESSA cites the World Anti-Doping Agency as a potential model for the body. The agency should have a global mandate and the capacity to hand down tough sanctions that will act as effective deterrents against corruption in sport.

ESSA, which represents leading European online sports book operators, made the call in response to the decision by the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) to only hand down a suspended sentence to the Renault Formula One racing team, who were found guilty of acting to fix the outcome of a championship race in 2008.

Renault deliberately ordered its driver Nelson Piquet Junior to crash at a crucial time, forcing the safety car to be deployed to the advantage of the team's first-choice driver, Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race. Team principal Falvio Briatore was banned for life from racing by the FIA, while chief engineer Pat Symonds received a five-year ban for their roles in the affair.

As things stand, examples such as this show that the current system of self-regulation by sports bodies on issues of integrity is insufficient believes ESSA Secretary General, Khalid Ali.

“It’s in the interest of all sports bodies to promote their own sports and engage in damage limitation when a scandal breaks,” says Ali. “This means that they often don’t apply the rules as rigorously enough as they could or should, or hand down the tough penalties that would act as effective deterrents. This latest episode is a prime example of this phenomenon. Corruption in sports is a global issue that requires a global answer.”

Taxing gambling not the solution

ESSA reject the idea of a levy on sports book operators to fund sports integrity units, as currently envisioned in France, describing the reasoning as “misguided”. Ali does not buy the argument that the betting industry is responsible for the majority of sports corruption, as evidenced by recent scandals in a range of different sports including Formula One, and as such should not be made to pay for it.

“It is unacceptable for sport federations to use the issue of sports integrity as a pretext to seek additional revenues from the gaming industry, when it is the members of sports federations themselves—whether players, coaches or officials—who are routinely found to be the origin of corruption in sports,” says Ali.

“The only effective way to tackle this malaise in sports is by applying stiff penalties: as sports federations themselves seem incapable of combating corruption within their respective sports, we see urgent need for a global sports policeman”, the ESSA Secretary General concluded.

Global anti-corruption agency

Play the Game proposed the idea of a world coalition against corruption in sport at the Play Fair with Sport conference organised by UEFA and the Council of Europe in October 2006, and continues to support the idea.Play the Game believes that a global coalition for good governance in sport should

1. define minimum standards for transparency, accountability and democratic procedures, standards which are to be followed by all national and international sports federations, governments, sponsors
2. have administrative capacity to monitor that the minimum standards are respected
3. actively encourage sports leaders and administrators, media professionals, sports researchers and other stakeholders to report irregularities
4. have a legal mandate and professional expertise to investigate cases of mismanagement and corruption, including the right to search sports offices, archives etc. without prior notice
5. be equipped with right to issue bans against individuals or groups who violate the global standards and suspend those who are under investigation
6. be provided with a legal status that enables it to report supposed violations to national or international legal authorities for further trial
7. regularly communicate its findings to the public through annual reports, conferences etc.