The world football governing body, FIFA, is to donate to INTERPOL the largest grant it has ever received from a private institution to create a 10-year-programme worth 20 million euros at a dedicated FIFA Anti-Corruption Training Wing within the INTERPOL Global Complex (IGC) in Singapore.
The announcement was made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter and INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble at a press conference held at the FIFA in Zurich. Under the agreement, INTERPOL will receive 4 million euros in each of the first two years, followed by EUR 1.5 million in each of the following eight years.<br><br>INTERPOLโs longest-ever funded initiative will target illegal and irregular betting and match-fixing, the scale of which has been highlighted by recent fixing allegations and the involvement of Asian gambling syndicates in global match-fixing โ with estimates by INTERPOL’s global law enforcement network that illegal football gambling is worth up to hundreds of billions of US dollars in Asia alone each year.<br><br>In this respect, the initiative will provide training, education and prevention to protect the sport, the players and the fans from fraud and corruption. Meanwhile, in England the Football Association (FA) appointed QC James Dingemans to review independently evidence of allegations of misconduct by four FIFA Executive Members during Englandโs bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals made by its former Chairman Lord Triesman to a Parliamentary Select Committee this week.
Mr Dingemans has been asked to make an independent report to The FA and FIFA. Evidence will be made public and be considered by The FA Board. It is expected that the Review will be completed by Friday 27 May.
The FA Chairman David Bernstein said: โIt is essential that we determine as soon as possible the weight of evidence behind these serious allegations. I am pleased Mr Dingemans will be conducting this important review and we look forward to his findings.โ<br><br>"The threat of match-fixing in sport is a major one, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to tackle this threat," said President Blatter. โIn the fight against illegal betting and match-fixing, the preventive measures that can be taken and the protection of the players and the integrity of the game are of utmost importance. Joint work with the authorities and with INTERPOL is crucial for success, and for this reason we are very pleased to announce this contribution today, which will further enhance our co-operation,โ he added.<br><br>During the press conference, FIFA also announced the creation of an internal Betting Integrity Investigation Task Force, which will comprise members of FIFAโs Legal Division and Security department, as well as the Early Warning System GmbH.<br><br>"Match-fixing shakes the very foundations of sport, namely fair play, respect and discipline. That’s why FIFA employs a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to any infringement of these values," concluded the FIFA President.<br><br>INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K Noble hailed FIFA’s and President Blatterโs commitment to keeping the sport clean. "By funding a long-term corruption prevention training programme to be designed and implemented by INTERPOL – the world’s largest international police institution with 188 member countries – to counter transnational organized crimeโs attempts to corrupt the sport and its players, officials and administrators, FIFA has taken a significant step towards ensuring the integrity of football worldwide,โ said INTERPOL Secretary General Noble.<br><br>โAs INTERPOL and FIFA look to the future, basing this anti-corruption initiative at INTERPOL’s upcoming Global Complex in Singapore while delivering training programmes from INTERPOL Regional Bureaus and offices all over the world will help both INTERPOL and FIFA achieve their common goal of keeping the worldโs most popular sport free of the corrupt influences of transnational organized crime syndicates,โ added Mr Noble.<br><br>"Illicit betting and match-fixing rings have demonstrated their global reach to fundamentally undermine football from one continent to another by corrupting administrators, officials and players and they require a global response,โ said Secretary General Noble.<br><br>Endorsing the initiative, the World Bank’s Vice President of Integrity, Leonard McCarthy, said: "Corruption should always be offside. Cleaning up initiatives are a much-needed golden goal against corruption; and an important step toward keeping football worthy of its nickname: the beautiful game."<br><br>Secretary General Noble outlined how links had been established between match-fixing, illegal betting and organized crime at an international level and how organized criminals frequently engage in loan-sharking and use intimidation and violence to collect debts, forcing their desperate, indebted victims into drug smuggling and their family members into prostitution.<br><br>โTodayโs agreement between INTERPOL and FIFA therefore provides a unique opportunity to challenge corruption both on and off the pitch,โ added the head of INTERPOL.<br><br>INTERPOL has co-ordinated several successful operations targeting illegal gambling in Asia, with SOGA III, conducted throughout the 2010 FIFA World Cup involving police across China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and resulting in the arrest of more than 5,000 individuals with raids conducted on nearly 800 illegal gambling dens which had handled more than USD 155 million of bets.
