Play the Game 2015: Governments vs. fixers: Will the rule of law beat the law of the jungle?

When Play the Game first highlighted the threats of match-fixing in 2005, hardly anybody listened. Today, the fight against criminal gamblers and fixers is on top of the international agenda in sport. At a record speed, the member states of the Council of Europe have signed a binding convention against manipulation of sports competitions.

But how many countries will actually follow up and how many outside Europe will join in and secure a global effort? And what other challenges do governments and sports organisations face to win this battle in the long run – if ever? Is it true that organised crime is already involved in 25 percent of professional sport?

A collective fight
To talk about the work of making governments stand united and create a collective convention on the fight against sports crime, Play the Game presents Stanislas Frossard, Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe’s sports political section EPAS. Frossard will let delegates in on the details in the work behind the match-fixing convention and the continued efforts in implementing and making the convention universal.

Do betting companies have a responsibility?
To monitor the immense betting market, several betting monitoring companies have been set up. As one of the largest, SportRadar is cooperating with a large number of sports organisations and leagues and their head of communications, Alex Inglot, will enlighten conference delegates about what irregularities they scout for and how they stay on top of the newest forms of match-fixing.

How bad is it and how do we fight it?
In a session focusing on integrity in practice, Play the Game 2015 will feature presentations about how far match-fixing has come in some countries and about how some of these countries try to cope with the damning threat to sport.

Understanding match-fixing – workshops with Declan Hill
A man who knows what goes on in the world of fixing is Canadian author and PhD Declan Hill. Hill has been investigating the match-fixing phenomenon since the early 2000s. Hill is on top of the latest developments in the underworld of illegal betting and has recently written about a new form of fixing called ‘ghost-fixing’.

A part from giving a presentation on his research in the main session on match-fixing, Declan Hill will further host a series of three workshops for journalists, academics and others interested in taking part in the fight against match-fixing.

Here, he will share his insights on the agendas that drive much of the discussion around match-fixing, give an evidence-based exploration of the fundamental questions of match-fixing and lay out the numerous ways of preventing the modern form of match-fixing.