EC / IRIS - POLAND SEMINAR FIGHT AGAINST MATCH FIXING

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1 EC / IRIS - POLAND SEMINAR FIGHT AGAINST MATCH FIXING Date: 12 December 2013 Place: Warsaw (Poland) Participants: cf. appendix Main issues raised during the seminar: Level of match fixing risk and awareness: - The match fixing risk in Poland is considered by the participants as quite low to quite high. - According to most of the participants, there is a strong lack of awareness about match fixing in Poland. Who has to fight against match fixing? - In Poland, public authorities determine a general framework for sport but respect the autonomy of sports organisations. The sports movement seems to be ready to accept public intervention in case of public order risks (for instance intrusion of organised Crime within sports structures). The idea of developing new strong measures to protect sports integrity and to share information in a national cooperative way is considered important by all participants. It has been said several times that cooperation is a key issue: Football recently joined the working group coordinated by the Ministry of Sport which is a significant success for the country. - Poland supports the idea of an international convention to fight against match fixing. The State created an internal working group to determine a common position for the country. - The issue of the funding of sports integrity, and more generally of sports organisations, is important in Poland. Poland is one of the countries with Australia and France having implemented a specific copyright on sports betting. To offer bets on Polish competitions, national betting operators need an agreement with the sports organisers, with or without paying a dedicated fee (every sports organiser is able to decide its own position on this payment). According to this agreement, betting operators also have to stop bets when suspicious betting patterns have been identified. Sports betting: - Several participants had a good level of expertise in betting. - In Poland, there is a system of licences for (offline and online) betting but many companies operate illegally in the country (Bet365 and Bwin have been mentioned). According to the participants, the fight against illegal betting is a key 1

2 issue. The number of betting operators remains quite limited because it is necessary to be registered in the country to obtain a license. This system is currently criticised by foreign online bookmakers and the EC recently launched an infringement procedure against Poland. - The State has been preparing a new draft regulation on betting, including fight against illegal betting. So far, the draft decree has not been finalised. - Some participants suggested thinking about betting restrictions on a cooperative basis (for instance, betting on competitions involving minors, betting on friendly games, etc.). The representatives of the Basketball Federation advocated in favour of a discussion between all the stakeholders to restrict bets easy to influence. Measures to protect sports integrity: - Participants give overwhelming support to education and information measures (to be developed within the country). - At the moment, under the coordination of the Ministry of Sport and the Police Head Office, an extensive education programme has been developed. After a test with an advertising campaign (short cartoon spot) and a face-to-face prevention programme (with the football team of Legia Warsaw), a new programme has been improved with the view to cover 6 sports: football, volleyball, rugby, handball, speedway, and motorsports. This programme will target primarily young players (in sport schools) and players of professional football clubs. The objective is to raise awareness among the athletes, build a culture of fair play and prepare young athletes to react in case they are approached. The programme comprises different tools: short movies, TV spots mentioning a hot line (anticorruption phone number), face-to-face education with quizzes and role games. The Police is involved in the face-to-face sessions, which has received excellent feedback, despite initial doubts on whether the police would be a valuable stakeholder to this young audience. - At the moment, the public authorities have been finalizing a new draft of the Sports Act, including measures against match fixing (based on items suggested by the EPAS convention). The current Sport Act already includes specific criminal provisions concerning match-fixing and betting. An impunity clause is also part of the Act (Art. 49 of the law exonerates those who have accepted a bribe and immediately notify the police from punishment). - In Poland, there is a dedicated criminal legislation/offence on sports fraud (match fixing but also insider information used for betting), now under revision. For fixers, the sanction can reach 8 to 10 years imprisonment. The problem with the current criminal legislation is that in order for the criminal offence to be established, the result has to be manipulated. The new version of the criminal provisions may also cover spot-fixing (in line with the EPAS Convention). Measures Betting: Fight against illegal betting Betting: Authorised list of bets Betting: Other restrictions (pay out) Existing (Yes / No) (new betting regulation draft to be finalized) limitations at the moment 2

3 Sport: Education programs Betting prohibition for sport actors Conflicts of interest: Disclosure of inside information Integrity officer Sport: Prohibition to control betting operators Criminal offence & Sanctions Betting: Prohibition to control sports when bets are offered Contract between sport and betting Intelligence and monitoring YES 6 sports planned at the moment (currently under implementation through coordination of Sports Ministry and Head of Police) At the moment, only football has implemented some measures, based on FIFA and UEFA rules. Basketball intends to prepare a new draft but it is still not allowed for players to bet on their sport (except for football due to UEFA requirements) YES (specific offence for sports fraud including match fixing) YES (through a security IP right, a type of betting right ) YES (hotline: anti-corruption phone number to report approaches or suspicions) Next steps and recommendations: Poland may possibly look into the 4 following priority items: o Implementation of cooperation at a national level, for example through a specific working group (proposal: representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Interior, Justice and Sport, of the National Olympic committee, of the main sports federations and of the legal betting industry). The aim of this group could be to think jointly about the content of the Sports Act and the new Betting Act regarding match-fixing issues (including conflicts of interest rules, i.e. betting prohibition for sports actors). o Appointment of an integrity officer in each big sports Federations. o Implementation of education programmes focusing on face-to-face (players, referees) and train the trainers in the main federations (beyond the 6 included in the current action plan). o Include strong measures to fight against illegal betting in the new betting regulation draft. 3

4 APPENDIX LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Grzegorz Bachański President - Polish Basketball Federation pzkosz@pzkosz.pl; Bartosz Baran Main Specialist - Audit Department, Ministry of Sport and Tourism bartosz.baran@msport.gov.pl; Jacek Bierkowski Member of the Board Polish Olympic Committee jbierkowski@pkol.pl Diana Dębowczyk Head of Political Office, Ministry of Sport and Tourism diana.debowczyk@msport.gov.pl; Jacek Jakubowski Secretary of Polish Basketball Federation pzkosz@pzkosz.pl Paweł Matej Main Specialist, Legal Department, Ministry of Sport and Tourism: pawel.matej@msport.gov.pl; Maciej Odolczyk Audit Department, Ministry of Sport and Tourism; maciej.odolczyk@msit.gov.pl; Rafał Piechota Head of Strategy and International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Sport and Tourism rafal.piechota@msport.gov.pl Joanna Pławecka Anti-corruption Team, Crime Intelligence Coordination Department, Crime Intelligence Bureau, Polish National Police ; joanna.plawecka@policja.gov.pl ; Paweł Strawiński University of Warsaw Faculty of Economic Sciences pstrawinski@wne.uw.edu.pl; 4

5 Wojciech Szpil CEO, Totalizator Sportowy; Mariusz Świderski Adviser of the Board, Totalizator Sportowy; Anna Wojciechowska-Nowak Head of Public Integrity (former Anti-Corruption) Program, The Stefan Batory Foundation Evangelos Alexandrakis European Lotteries Sport Executive Secretary Sarah Lacarrière Sport Accord Intergity Officer Christian Kalb CK Consulting Director Pim Verschuuren IRIS Project coordinator 5