FIFA endorses match-fixing reporting app
The global football governing body has officially recognised FIFPro’s app for reporting match-fixing.
Switzerland.- FIFA has officially designated a new smartphone app as a valid tool to report potential corruption in football.
Red Button is a new app developed by the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) that allows players to anonymously report requests to fix matches.
FIFA’s integrity department will now investigate information that is submitted via the app, which was developed in partnership with the Finnish player association.
The app’s technology ensures no trace of a report is left on a user’s phone. It gives players the option to leave contact details so that investigators can contact them in confidence about the concerns they raise over match-fixing.
FIFPro said the anonymity provided by the app would help encourage reports from players who might be concerned that speaking out could impact their personal safety and footballing careers.
The app will be added to FIFA’s existing reporting platforms, such as the Fifa Integrity App and BKMS.
FIFA’s deputy legal and compliance officer, and director of integrity and anti-doping, Oliver Jaberg, said: “Safeguarding the integrity of football and ensuring that all participants can play in a safe environment is a top priority for us.
“Working together with stakeholders at all levels of football is key part of Fifa’s approach to protecting the integrity of football and we look forward to collaborating with FIFPro on this new initiative.”
FIFPro’s legal director, Roy Vermeer, said he believed technology would help root out match-fixing across international football.
He said: “With players facing disciplinary action for failing to report a match-fixing approach, there must be a way for them to do this without fear that they are putting themselves, their families and their careers in danger.
“The Red Button app provides this facility and will help players manage this considerable risk that, through no fault of their own, might confront them at any time.”
Football remains the sport that generates most suspicious betting alerts according to the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS).
In the first half of the year it registered 197 alerts related to football, more than two thirds of all alerts it received.
The European law enforcement body Europol has called for greater cooperation to tackle match-fixing.
Meanwhile in esports, ESIC is close to completing its investigation into alleged match-fixing in the Mountain Dew League.
