Match-fixing is becoming a major concern in sports leagues around the world. Now, there is the possibility that this crime is taking place in New South Wales, as local authorities investigate potential sports corruption charges in local matches. According to SBS, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook states that the investigations have just begun.
However, he suspects that there is corruption at various levels in the local sports industry – including second, third and fourth divisions as well as ‘elite sports’. He states that there is no sport that is immune to corruption, but that there relatively few criminals involved. The main focus for Detective Cook’s investigations involves matches where the outcome has been manipulated.
This is the most common and most dangerous form of match-fixing, and the investigation squad is most interested in getting to the root of these crimes. "A lot of the information were getting is that players and sports people are being influenced or approached in social settings in order to manipulate them,” says Cook.
"Other examples are when some players who have gambling problems themselves and in some circumstances we have information about players themselves organising a corrupt outcome in order for them to make money." The intelligence about these potential crimes has come from offshore betting services, which aim to corrupt sports in Australian in order to turn a profit.
Much of the match-fixing comes from overseas, and the investigation squad aims to prevent Australian sports from being corrupted by both external and internal forces. At the moment, the investigation is still in its initial stages, but the squad is confident.
We hope that Detective Cook and his team will be able to uncover match-fixing schemes in NSW and put an end to this crime.
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