FIFA and UN crime body launch campaign against match-fixing

Football’s international governing body has launched a campaign with the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime.

Switzerland.- FIFA has partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to launch a campaign that aims to encourage people to speak out on match-fixing in football.

The campaign will promote FIFA’s confidential reporting platforms, urging players, coaches and officials to reject and report match-fixing.

It will communicate the message that anyone who believes they have been approached by someone attempting to fix matches should report the incident to Fifa via its website, email or integrity app.

The campaign includes messages from figures such as female player of the century Sun Wen, retired Colombian defender Iván Córdoba and German referee Bibiana Steinhaus.

FIFA said the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic uncertainty had created conditions that produced a greater risk to integrity for players and clubs.

It comes after FIFA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UNODC in September to establish goals for cooperation on the protection of children and young athletes and other measures.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “In these unprecedented times marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is essential that we work together with partners such as the UNODC to ensure that players, coaches and officials have the confidence to speak out against match-fixing, as well as any other integrity issues.”

UNODC executive director Ghada Waly said: “Sports and sporting events are vital to our well-being, and they have a crucial role to play in helping our societies and economies recover from the pandemic. That is why we must work together to ensure that sport recovers with integrity.

“The UNODC has joined forces with FIFA to support efforts aimed at preventing, detecting, reporting and sanctioning match-fixing and other forms of corruption in sport.

“Working with governments, sports organisations and all stakeholders, we can build on the UN Convention against Corruption to tackle match-fixing and keep sport fair for all.”

The IBIA reported an increase in suspicious betting reports in football and other sports in Q3