In a startling disclosure, FIFA’s security chief Chris Eaton stated on Wednesday that soccer match fixing yields US$90 billion annually. This could have been an attempt to sidestep criticism from Vice-President Abdullah Hammam of Qatar, who had expressed concern about Sepp Blatter’s donation of Euros 20 million for a dedicated anti-corruption unit based in Singapore.
Hammam had averred that Blatter should have gotten approval from the Council before making such a significant payment.
This $90 billion is a huge amount, considering that the entire defence budgets of countries like ours are in the single figure billions of dollars. It also indicates the power and influence of the people behind match-fixing. When there is so much money at stake, everything is on the line. Players, umpires, organizers would all be fair game. And once in it, there would be no getting out. And heaven forbid, should someone squeal. The gloves would be off in no time at all.
All this is reminiscent of a certain organization, originally from Sicily, which has taken over organised crime in the USA. The same secrecy, the same blind loyalty and perhaps similar punishments for the ones who go astray. Professional sport has certainly hit the big time and not necessarily in a positive way.
It is interesting that Hammam should question the setting up of such a policing unit. The recent bidding for the World Cup has been one of the most controversial in recent times. England, the front runners, were horrified to discover that all the votes which they had a lock on, had disappeared into thin air. Perhaps it could be said that the deepest pockets won all the votes. This does not say much for the ethics of the voters, who were busy trying to arrange large sums of money, ostensibly for their local Federations, but more likely, with a lot of the funds going into numbered accounts.
Such is the rise and rise of corruption and organized crime in sport. The numbers stated here make the cricket betting and match-fixing scene pale into insignificance, although, perhaps the percentage of players involved in match-fixing in cricket might be the highest. It is being said that even the selection committees of some countries are under the influence of the fixers, because it takes six or seven players to fix a match, the most important being the wicketkeeper. It is no wonder that we had to be tormented by the sight of a ‘keeper dropping four catches and missing a run out that even his grandmother could have accomplished.
All this makes one look at professional wrestling with a new respect. At least they make no bones about the fact that they are not competing out there. It is simply a well-orchestrated, choreographed entertainment similar to any Las Vegas or Follies show. The fans know this also but are drawn by the sheer showmanship. There is none of the dirt, smut and make-believe that we have to tolerate in cricket or in football among other sports.
Perhaps the sports with the best chance of being clean are the individual ones, like golf and tennis, where the rewards and honours of winning a major title far outweigh any money that they could receive from match fixers. There have been the odd reports of early round matches where players may have a tanked a match or two, but it is highly unlikely that the final of Wimbledon could ever be under such scrutiny.
It seems as if it is the team sports in which the chances of match fixing are highest. A few mistakes by several different players can easily be overlooked as happenstance. On the other hand, it would be glaringly obvious if Roger Federer managed to lose a match to a relative unknown.
It is not just the players who are willing partners in this seamy state of affairs. Perhaps the most decisive roles could be played by the umpires. In cricket, a few dicey LBWs and caught behinds would almost certainly tilt the match one way or the other. The South Africans were convinced they had been had in one Test against England, when a rash of LBW decisions lost them the game. This is now much more difficult with the advent of technology and the fact that the umpires’ decisions can be challenged by the Decision Review System. Hawkeye and Hotspot are always there to reprieve a bad decision. Additionally, the umpires are graded for every match, making it very risky for them to try something funny.
This Euro20 million that has been fronted by FIFA is but a drop in the bucket, if any headway is to be made to curb this disease. Cricket had also appointed a former Scotland Yard policeman whose achievements in this regard are not earth shaking. In the end, it is probably the media, papers like The News of the World who are in the forefront of these battles, with their sting operations and exposes. It is obvious that their motives are sensational news and newspaper circulation, but they certainly have put fear into the hearts of the match fixers and the dirty players.
