Game Over: UNODC exposes the link between corruption and organized crime in sport

Vienna, October 21^St2024 – The one Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (COP) aims to improve the understanding, capacities and coordination of States Parties to combat this type of crime.

On the sidelines of its Conference, the UNODC Program on the Protection of Sport against Corruption and Economic Crime organized the side event “Game Over: Exposing the Linkages between Corruption and Organized Crime in Sport”. The main aim of the event was to raise awareness of the threat organized crime poses to sport.

New publication: Game Over report

During the side event, a new UNODC report was released:” Game Over: Exposing the links between corruption, serious and organized crime in sport.”

The report presents case studies and evidence-based practical recommendations to support global efforts to address the infiltration of organized crime in sport. Contributions came from 90 experts from 32 countries, along with 13 representatives from 11 organizations.

Three key takeaways from the report:

1. Organized crime groups exploit the low-risk, high-reward environment of sport through illicit activities such as competition manipulation, illegal betting and the exploitation of athletes. These activities span local and international levels and affect both amateur and professional sports.
2. Criminal justice authorities must work closely with sports organisationsshare information and develop specialist skills to tackle complex issues such as illegal betting and competition rigging.
3. More action is needed to improve regulatory frameworks, tighten controls in high-risk areas such as athlete transfers and sports betting and improve data collection.

UNODC will continue to advance research into the link between sports corruption and other crimes, building on past experiences and international best practices to develop solutions that maintain integrity in the sporting arena.

Expert panel discussion

Following the launch of the new publication, experts and senior officials from UNODC, Sport Integrity Australia, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China), the South African Police Service, the National Crime Agency (UK) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of Investigations (United States) gave a series of presentations.

The presentations provided valuable insight into the ways in which organized crime infiltrates sports, particularly through illegal betting, match-fixing and money laundering.

The discussion highlighted common global challenges in recognizing and combating these threats, particularly the cross-border nature of such crimes, including leaks of privileged information.

In addition, the panel of experts discussed how new technologies facilitate these illicit activities and stressed the urgent need for stronger legislation and improved cooperation between law enforcement agencies.