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touchline
The journal of spor t & r isk with an international perspective
Issue
7
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Steve Boucher
touchline@sportscover.com
Contents
The allegations surrounding Pakistan
captain Salman Butt and bowlers Asif
and Amir are serious for them, for cricket
and sport. They are alleged to have
bowled three no-balls on purpose at pre-
determined times during the fourth Test
at Lord’s to facilitate betting coups.
Unfortunately this is not the first time
that corruption and cricket have been
linked together. Way back in 1817 a
Surrey cricketer, William Lambert, was
banned from playing at Lord’s for life
because of a match fixing scandal. More
recently, in 2000 South African captain
Hansie Cronje confessed to taking
bribes. Cronje was banned for life from
professional cricket but died in a plane
crash in 2002.
Since cricket began there have been
numerous cases of cricketers being
involved in taking bribes, providing
match information to bookies and
betting irregularities. Questions still
remain about the amazing turnaround in
January this year when Australia were
floundering only to come back and win
by 36 runs over Pakistan after a number
of dropped catches and strange field
placements. Some observers believe
that the corruption runs so deep in
cricket that there is no real attempt by
the authorities to get to the bottom of it
for fear of what will be uncovered.
However, it is not only cricket that is
tainted by corruption. In fact, corruption
is the biggest problem in the sports world
according to journalist Jens Weinreich,
author of the book ‘Corruption in sports’.
He believes that corruption is all over
sports, pointing out that historically 95%
of corruption is never discovered.
The Pakistan allegations also occurred
in the same week that the National
Rugby League was probing a plunge
on an unusual points-scoring option in
the recent game between Canterbury
and North Queensland. And the great
appeal of football is based on a belief
that the playing field is truly level and
that even the rank outsiders can win
through on the day. Yet last November
police in Germany, Britain, Austria and
Switzerland cracked down on a match-
fixing ring in what Union of European
Football Associations (UEFA) called
the biggest betting scandal in Europe.
In May, Michel Platini, President of
UEFA, called for an international police
task force to fight corruption in sports,
especially in football.
The potential for corruption in sport is
huge. It is not only about match-fixing
or providing inside information on the
state of pitches or players, but also
stadium construction and bidding for
large competitions like the Olympics
and World Cup. It is also clear that
betting is now an integral part of sport.
The sums of money that are involved
are huge and growing rapidly and that
inherently increases the risk.
Corruption can only take place if there
is someone either within the sport or
who has influence over the sport that
is prepared to take a bribe. The sports
authorities around the world must take
on the responsibility to tackle corruption
risks within their own organisations at
regional, national and local levels and
make sure that those involved are dealt
with severely. Criminal proceedings
and life bans from the sport for the
perpetrators areaminimumrequirement
in order to make others think twice.
The more corruption in sport is
uncovered, the more likely it is that an
upset or any ‘against the odds’ win will
be looked on with suspicion. Whether
it is a dubious penalty; several missed
catches; a couple of double faults; a
quick knockout… was it just luck… or
other more sinister reasons?
September 2010
Corruption in sport –
it’s just not cricket.
