EC / IRIS - MALTA SEMINAR FIGHT AGAINST MATCH-FIXING

Transcription

1 EC / IRIS - MALTA SEMINAR FIGHT AGAINST MATCH-FIXING Date: 14 February 2014 Place: Malta Participants: cf. appendix Main issues raised during the seminar: Level of match-fixing risk and awareness: - The match-fixing risk in Malta is considered from quite low to quite high, depending on the participants; - Malta had to face different match-fixing cases in football in the past. More than 10 Maltese football actors have even been banned for life by the UEFA or by the national Federation (MFA); - According to participants, awareness about match-fixing issues is quite good but still has to be improved. Who has to fight against match-fixing? - In Malta, public authorities determine a general framework for sport but respect the autonomy of sports organisations. The cooperation between the sports movement and public bodies appears to work quite well. The sports movement seems to be ready to accept public intervention in case of public order risks; - Malta supports the idea of an international convention to fight against match fixing even they don t agree with some issues (e.g. the definition of illegal betting) on which the country has a specific position. Match-fixing and betting: - Many participants have a quite good knowledge about betting; - In Malta, there is a system of licences for online betting and a monopoly for offline betting (Maltco U-Bet). Online betting, and more generally online gambling, is an important source of revenue for the country. Malta therefore has a quite liberal position on online gambling and recognizes the licences given by other European Member States. The fight against illegal betting and the question of betting restrictions are not key issues for Malta: The country doesn t really face an illegal online market and many online betting operators are located in Malta because they want to offer bets elsewhere in the world with no specific restrictions on the betting offering, pay out rates or stakes; - For football representatives, the cooperation with betting operators (Maltco excepted, because the company doesn t offer bets on the Maltese football) is not easy because there is lot of money involved in the online betting sector. 1

2 Measures to protect sports integrity: - All the participants give overwhelming support to education and information measures, including programmes targeting young people and even children; - The Maltese Football Association (MFA) has been developing, in a very proactive way, its own integrity programme, including enhanced education, monitoring, surveillance at stadium, etc. Today, this integrity programme is internationally considered as a best practice; - Others Maltese sports are not really concerned by match-fixing: Participants think that no other Maltese sport is offered for bets around the world, even not tennis or basketball. That s why representatives of these sports didn t attend the seminar. It has been said several times during the seminar that THE match-fixing target is football; - Participants think that sports actors should at least not bet on their own competition; - In 1976 Malta adopted an Act on Prevention of corruption (players). Passive and active corruptions are considered to be formal crimes, punished with penalties up to 2 years imprisonment. - Article 4 of the Act considers as an obligation for officials, players or organizers to report to the Commissioner of Police some information related to passive or active corruption. Failing to comply with such an obligation is considered an offence punishable with a fine and up to 3 months imprisonment, 6 months in cases of subsequent convictions. - The Act also contains an exemption from punishment to be applied to those who are the first to give information to the relevant authorities (Art. 7). This article only applies if the information is not already known by the police; - For some football representatives, the current Act, but also the law enforcement (and first of all the cooperation with the Police and Justice) have to be improved in a short future. It seems important to implement an operational task force focused on football. The next Act should also focus on the protection of victims and on those who would like to speak up. - It was highly stressed that enhanced cooperation between law-enforcement services and relevant sports bodies in the fight against match-fixing must be prioritized. Measures Betting: Fight against illegal betting Betting: Authorised list of bets Betting: Other restrictions (pay out, stakes) Sport: Education programs Betting prohibition for sport actors Not really NO NO Existing (Yes / No) YES (extensive education program for football) Responsible guidelines and sanctions determined by the MFA (no bets on its own competition). Disciplinary sentences have already been pronounced (fines); NO (Football is thinking of a specific regulation on that issue) Conflicts of interest: Disclosure of inside information Integrity officer YES for football Sport: Prohibition to control NO betting operators Criminal offence & Sanctions YES specific Act for Prevention of corruption (Act XIX (1976) amended in 1983 then 2001). To be modified in the future. 2

3 Betting: Prohibition to control sports when bets are offered Contract between sport and betting Intelligence and monitoring NO NO compulsory YES (for football through SportRadar / BFDS) Next steps and recommendations: - Malta may possibly look into the 5 following priority items: o Implementation of an operational task force focused on football (including representatives from the MFA, the Police, the Justice and betting operators); this was announced in a welcome address to the seminar made by the representative of the sport state authority ( a task force set up under auspices of the justice public authorities ) o Development of a harmonised national Code of sport including conflicts of interest rules for all sports (may be through the coordination of the Parliamentary Secretariat for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport or the Maltese Olympic Committee or through the MFA who has announced working currently on such a Code): prohibition to bet for sport actors on their own competition, disclosure of inside information, etc. o Appointment of an integrity officer at national level for all other sports than football (could be under the auspices of the NOC or the sport state authorities). o Implementation of requirements regarding the Malta based betting industry (obligations to report suspicious betting patterns, cooperation between sports organizations (and first of all football) and betting operators, etc.); o Enhanced cooperation with foreign betting regulatory authorities regarding online betting companies based in Malta (e.g. identity checking of foreign punters, especially in case of irregular betting patterns, fight against illegal betting, etc.). 3

4 APPENDIX LIST OF PARTICIPANTS The Hon. Dr. Stephan Buontempo MP Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport Dr. Ioannis Katakis CEO, Mr. Franz Tabone Integrity Officer Malta Football Association Dr. Adrian Camilleri Legal Prosecutor Malta Football Association Dr. Chris Bonett Vice President Malta Football Association Mr. Tom A. Restall Secretary, Referees Committee Malta Football Association Refereeing Department Mr. Alexander Arena Recruitment and Retention Officer Referees Committee Malta Football Association Refereeing Department Mr. Victor Mintoff Referees Development Officer, Referees Committee Malta Football Association Refereeing Department Mr. Antonio P. Briguglio Referee Observer Malta Football Association Refereeing Department 4

5 Dr. Karen Zammit Southernwood Head Regulatory Affairs Kunsill Malti ghall-isport Dr. Luciano Micallef Chairman Kunsill Malti ghall-isport Mr. William Beck Executive Director Maltese Olympic Committee Dr. Paul DeBattista Head of Secretariat Parliamentary Secretariat for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport Ms. Phyllis Farrugia Consultant, Lotteries and Gaming Authority Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth Dr. Corinne Gatt Manager EU & External Affairs, Lotteries and Gaming Authority Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth Dr. Samuel Gauci Manager Legal Affairs Lotteries and Gaming Authority Mr. Oliver Zammit Compliance Officer Lotteries and Gaming Authority Mr. Robbie Ebeyer Chairman, Tim Sport PN Nationalist Party Inspector Sylvana Briffa Inspector, Vice Squad Malta Police Force 5

6 Mr. Sandro Micallef Secretary Malta Sports Journalists Association Mr. Charles Camenzuli President & General Secretary European Union of Sports Journalists Malta Sports Journalists Association Mr. Henry Brincat Deputy Treasurer Malta Sports Journalists Association Mr. Matthew Mamo Member Malta Sports Journalists Association Dr. Dawn Aquilina Research Fellow Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration Ms. Adele Muscat Sports Psychologist Ms. Marie Therese Cuschieri UK University Graduate in Sports Administration Dr. Anthony Galea President Malta Football Players Association Mr. Carlo Mamo General Secretary Malta Football Players Association Mr. Vasileios Kasiotakis General Director 6

7 Mr. Georgios Kakouras Operations Director Mr. Lino Micallef Borg Finance Director Mr. David Anthony Gatt Sales and Marketing Director Ing. Michael Agius Muscat Information Systems Director Dr. Alison Fiott Legal and Compliance Manager Dr. Aaron Zammit Apap Legal and Regulatory Manager. Ms. Erika Micallef Corporate Communications and Public Relations Manager Christian Kalb Director, CK Consulting Sarah Lacarrière Intergity Officer, Sport Accord Bernadette Lobjois Secretary General, European Lotteries 7

8 Evangelos Alexandrakis Sport Executive Secretary, European Lotteries Pim Verschuuren Project coordinator, IRIS 8