Round table 3 - Synthesis

1.     The story of a descent into hell, Moses Swaibu, former Premier League Player

Former Premier League footballer Moses Swaibu has told how he was approached and tempted by a corrupt scheme offered by a fixer. The player was sentenced in 2015 to 16 months in prison. He is now conducting anti-corruption training. He faced his first corruption case while playing for Lincoln City. "A group of people came to my hotel and offered me 60,000 euros. I was just a boy then," said Moses Swaibu. He didn't tell anyone about the offer. The former footballer revealed that after some time, law enforcement officials contacted him and warned him that if he did not hand over the Asian gang members, he would go to jail. The criminals offered up to £100,000 to fix a game. The gang sent the clubs a schedule of what events should happen during his team match. "Not only footballers but also activists collaborated with the gang," said Moses Swaibu. "If the club pays its players a little, it's easy to convince them to do it," he added. So we have to teach young people, educate them that they can make money but they can also lose it." Changes are needed on an ethical level so that the fairness of competitions is a paramount value around the world," the former footballer concluded. 

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2.     I have been contacted to fix a match, Dan Added tennis player (online)

The 24-year-old tennis player Dan Added also faced the suggestion for corruption. "When I was 18 and starting to play as a professional, someone contacted me on Facebook and asked me to lose the first set 0-6 from an opponent who was slightly better than me. He offered me 4000 euros. It was probably a fake account," says the athlete. The tennis player did not react and informed the organizers and then the tennis integrity unit about the incident. "But this guy kept contacting me saying I was playing pretty well. He kept making suggestions, asking me many times, and I reported these incidents. This went on for three or four months. Finally we were able to find out who this person was" he continued. Thanks to Dan whistleblowing the man who persuaded the young tennis player to participate in match-fixing has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

 

3.     Cooperation with police, Adam Gilarski, Polish Football Association

The next speaker was Adam Gilarski, integrity officer of the Polish Football Association (PFA). He explained how PFA counters and tackle cases of match-fixing. He stressed that in most cases the players are not the initiators, but rather victims of suggestions from criminal groups. Adam Gilarski stressed the importance of legal provisions regarding, among others, whistleblowing provisions. "We want to ensure the safety of the people who provide us with information," he said. He insisted on the important role of anti-corruption training for young football players, and the involvement of police officers in it. He recalled that in recent years there had been cases of match-fixing in the third division of Polish football and therefore 128 players from various clubs had to undergo training. Earlier, this type of trainings were organised only for Ekstraklasa, I and II leagues players. Adam Gilarski thinks that it is not the PFA that should conduct investigations into corruption in the sport. Sports associations do not have the ability to eavesdrop or control social media. He stressed that it is difficult for the law enforcement authorities to gather all the information they need only from whistleblowers. It is much easier to provide information based on reports from companies that monitor bookmakers. "For us, this is preliminary proof and confirmation that the match is fixed," he explained. Information about possible fixed games should be kept secret for some time. Too often, these matters reach the media before the verification take place, before the police take the first action, said Mr. Gilarski. "We need to give law enforcement time to gather evidence and initiate a criminal proceeding" he concluded.

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4.     Police investigation in match fixing, insp. Mariusz Łapiński, Regional Police HQ in Gorzów  

Inspector Mariusz Łapiński, head of the anti-corruption unit of the provincial police headquarters in Gorzów Wielkopolski, talked about the investigation of a match-fixing attempt in Zielona Góra. He explained how he received an information about an attempt to fix a match between third league clubs Polonia Bitom - Lechia Zielona Gora. The information showed that two days earlier an unknown man speaking Polish, with an eastern accent, had offered the director of the club Lechia Zielona Gora an unspecified sponsorship of the club, which he would like to discuss during a meeting. The conversation took place over the phone. The same day, the man met with the club's director. The marketing director also took part in the conversation. During the conversation, the unidentified man made an offer of corruption to the club officials he was speaking to. He offered 7000 euro fee in exchange for settling the course of the Lechia Zielona Góra - Polonia Bytom match, which was due to take place in two days. The match was to be arranged by the scoring of at least three goals in the first half of the match by each of the teams. The man informed that he intended to place bets on this type of event at Asian bookmakers, where correctly predicting the course of the match was highly rewarded. Club management rejected the proposal. Police carried out a number of operational, undercover and procedural activities on the case, during which they established the man's personal details. The District Prosecutor's Office in Zielona Gora opened an investigation under the Sports Act, and the perpetrator who made the offer of corruption was arrested later on. The suspect has made a confession of what he did and the evidence collected confirms his guilt. Later on he has been charged for promising a benefit in exchange for unscrupulous conduct that may influence the course of sporting competitions. Therefore the court remanded the suspect in judicial custody for three months.

 

5. Identified criminal networks in match fixing, Dieter Braekeveld, Interpol, (online)

At the end of the conference, Interpol official Dieter Braekeveld spoke about the role of international police in breaking up sports fraud gangs. He observed that criminal groups usually make offers to young footballers or those who are at the end of their careers and offer them large sums of money. "There are many weaknesses they can exploit," Dieter Braekeveld stressed. The Interpol official also revealed that criminals buy personal details of people in small towns for 10-20 euros, which are used to create accounts on social networking sites. They are then used to send offers to fix matches.