Manipulation of handball games – what is the problem and what needs to be done?

Canadian investigative journalist, author and academic, Declan Hill receives the Play the Game 2009 award in recognition of his groundbreaking research and documentation of the realities of match fixing.

The old adage that it “takes a crook to catch a crook” became a reality when a former New York crime chief provided a fascinating insight into how match fixing takes place in the USA.

The rumours are no longer rumours. They are facts. This was the message delivered by Declan Hill, one of the world’s leading experts on soccer match fixing. Speaking on the first day of the Play the Game conference, Hill gave a detailed account of his experiences investigating bribery and corruption in soccer over the past ten years.

A taped conversation implies that FIFA and UEFA Vice President and President of the Royal Spanish Football Association (RFEF) Àngel María Villar, was aware of match fixing in Spanish Primera División.

Betting agencies are calling for a new organisation much like the World Anti-Doping Agency, to be established so that governments and sports federations can cooperate across borders to investigate betting irregularities and put an end to match fixing.

Long held suspicions of match-fixing in Bulgarian football materialised in the arrest of Bulgarian Ivan Lekov, vice chairman of the State Agency for Sport and Youth and member of the Executive Commission of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU). This happened after a group of former referees went public about experienced bribes and match-fixings conducted by top positioned deputies in the BFU.