Anti-match-fixing
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Article summary
Preventing match-fixing is crucial to safeguarding the integrity of European football.
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Article body
Match-fixing is a fundamental violation of our sport’s universal values. We work closely with both the football and wider sports community to protect the integrity of European football matches and competitions by:
- promoting integrity through dedicated education and training programmes and raising awareness of potential threats;
- identifying, investigating and punishing match-fixing offences.
“Match-fixing is one of the biggest threats to the integrity of the beautiful game and it is UEFA’s duty to remain at the vanguard in the fight.”
What is match-fixing?
Match-fixing is the manipulation of the course or outcome of a football match, whether for sporting, financial or other reasons, and represents a fundamental violation of our sport’s universal values, such as trust and integrity.
It is often associated with serious criminal activities such as corruption, fraud and money laundering, with profits benefitting other criminal networks. Typically, match-fixing transcends national borders, making detection and prosecution difficult.
How can I safely report match-fixing?
Players, referees, officials and members of the public wishing to confidentially and anonymously report suspected cases of match-fixing can contact us using our toll-free number +800 0001 0002 or our secure UEFA integrity website (available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish)
Our action plan
Following an independent feasibility study, in July 2021, we committed more resources to the fight against match-fixing, to implement a three-year action plan and to develop our internal team of experts and pool of investigators. This ambitious new plan focuses on:
- strengthening cooperation with international and local authorities;
- increasing expertise and support for key persons fighting match-fixing at national and international levels;
- enhancing education, awareness and training efforts;
- leveraging technology to signpost potential concerns and facilitate investigation and analysis;
- increasing the number of skilled UEFA staff devoted to anti-match-fixing efforts.
Integrity officers
European football’s network of integrity officers, who work for our 55 member associations, perform a vital role in investigating suspected match-fixing in their countries and liaising between football authorities and state law enforcement agencies. They also exchange information and experience with UEFA regarding the prosecution of corrupt or criminal practices affecting football, monitor local disciplinary proceedings, and manage a local education and prevention programme.
Since 2011, we have provided financial and operational support to associations to implement anti-match-fixing programmes. Each association can apply for up to €50,000 per season through our HatTrick programme, to fund local anti-fixing activities and conduct investigations in accordance with local laws.
Education and prevention
Our anti-match-fixing activities place a strong emphasis on education and prevention.
Our strategy
Players, referees and everyone else involved in our competitions must have a clear understanding of the UEFA disciplinary regulations regarding match-fixing, including their duty to report any corruption attempts. Improving knowledge of match-fixing, raising awareness of potential personal and professional risks, and sharing strategies for managing vulnerability each play an important role in protecting our sport’s integrity.
Education
We offer anti-match-fixing training for players, referees and other officials participating in our competitions through in-person or virtual training opportunities. The UEFA for Players app includes a dedicated e-learning module.
We also work closely with academic experts to develop innovative approaches to tackling match-fixing. In September 2022, the UEFA Academy launched Fight The Fix, our first-ever anti-match-fixing course, developed with the help of the University of Lausanne’s School of Criminal Justice in Switzerland.
The curriculum is designed for national association integrity officers, partner organisations involved in fighting match-fixing – such as public and law enforcement authorities – and integrity specialists from other sports organisations. It not only equips those involved in fighting match-fixing with essential tools and skills to identify, investigate and prosecute match-fixing cases, but also emphasises the importance of collaboration between public and law enforcement authorities as well as other sports organisations.
Composed of three week-long seminars that take place over a seven-month period, Fight The Fix sees participants conduct a fictitious match-fixing investigation. The second edition is scheduled for autumn 2024.
National associations
We work with all our member associations to help implement their own comprehensive education and prevention strategies, providing training opportunities for the network of integrity officers. We also offer resources to ensure all 55 associations are delivering consistent anti-match-fixing messages that are adapted to their local context. This ensures football is aligned with public authorities, building capacity and strengthening information-sharing.
Every two years, we organise a conference for our 55 football integrity officers. In 2022/23, we relaunched our anti-match-fixing regional workshops. These bring together integrity officers, investigators, law enforcement authorities and prosecutors, among others, to discuss common challenges and potential solutions. The first workshop was hosted by the Football Federation of Kosovo in Priština in April 2023, and included representatives from eight member associations plus an Interpol integrity in sports training officer..
UEFA competitions
Our anti-match-fixing activities uphold the integrity of all UEFA competitions via targeted integrity measures.
For example, our approach for EURO 2024 was built upon lessons from previous tournaments to safeguard the competition through close collaboration between key host nation stakeholders in Germany, participating associations and public authorities such as Europol (the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation), Interpol and the Council of Europe.
Coordinated integrity initiatives also included dedicated education sessions for competing teams as well as match officials.
Disciplinary framework and measures
We actively investigate cases of suspected match-fixing and other related integrity violations affecting UEFA matches and competitions.
Article 12 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations specifically states that everyone bound by our rules and regulations must refrain from any behaviour that damages or could damage the integrity of matches and competitions and must cooperate fully with UEFA at all times in efforts to combat such behaviour. The criteria for admission to our competitions also require participating clubs to meet strict integrity standards (Article 50.3 of the UEFA Statutes).
In addition, we support associations and state authorities who request assistance with their own investigations and related sporting or criminal proceedings. By working closely with public authorities, we contribute to the detection and investigation of serious criminal offences. In turn, any intelligence obtained in the context of criminal investigations can provide valuable evidence to assist enquiries and disciplinary proceedings conducted by UEFA or associations.
Betting fraud detection
Football betting has become a multibillion-euro industry, fuelled by the game’s enormous popularity worldwide and the rapid growth of online betting. While most of this betting is based on the reliability and integrity of matches, unscrupulous individuals – some with ties to organised crime networks – try to manipulate match results to make illegal profits on the betting market.
Powered by Sportradar, the UEFA betting fraud detection system identifies fraudulent activity in real time by analysing the global betting market. A suspicious match alert triggers investigations by either our own anti-match-fixing team or the national association’s integrity officer, depending on legal jurisdiction. These investigations are frequently carried out in conjunction with state authorities.
Working with stakeholders
We cannot solve match-fixing alone. It requires cooperation with multiple other stakeholders across a range of activities, including monitoring, investigation and education:
European football anti-match-fixing working group
In 2014, we established the European football anti-match-fixing working group. Composed of five permanent members – the Council of Europe, the Group of Copenhagen (the advisory group of the Macolin Convention’s follow-up committee), Europol (the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation), Interpol and ourselves – and, as needed, other specialist organisations, this forum meets annually to exchange information and best practice.
"UEFA recognises the need to unite all key stakeholders involved in the fight against match-fixing and address current threats and common challenges together.”
Macolin Convention
The Macolin Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions is the only rule of international law that specifically addresses match-fixing. Ratified in September 2019, it provides a common legal framework for global cooperation between public authorities and sports organisations, betting operators and governing bodies. It has been signed by 41 European countries, as well as by Australia and Morocco.
In June 2021, the Council of Europe granted UEFA observer status at the follow-up committee established to monitor the implementation of the convention.
Other cooperation initiatives
In October 2021, UEFA and the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO) signed a joint cooperation agreement to facilitate closer coordination, including the exchange of information received through FIFPRO's Red Button whistleblowing app – a secure platform available only to professional footballers.
In April 2022, in a football first, representatives of our 55 member associations and 109 investigators, judicial authorities and representatives of Europol – the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation – assembled for a one-day conference at The Hague in the Netherlands. Participants were united by one goal: to strengthen cooperation on investigations into sport-related cases.
In November 2023, we joined forces with the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) in Greece, the Council of Europe, the International Olympic Committee, Interpol and the Greek National Platform for Sport Integrity (EPATHLA) to organise a Sport Integrity Week. The initiative is designed to strengthen national and transnational cooperation in keeping sport clean.