WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing:
ALL BETS ARE OFF
Gambling, Match-Fixing, and Corruption in Sport
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
11:30 a.m.
Russell Senate Office Building
Room 188
Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission
Corruption—including bribery, doping fraud, and match-fixing—permeates international sport. Despite a 2015 FBI investigation into the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) that indicted more than twenty-five top FIFA officials and associates for alleged decades-long racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering, international sport governance bodies remain compromised and U.S. athletes remain vulnerable.
Corruption in sport has become an even more pressing concern following the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 14 decision declaring the Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional, unleashing a sports gambling industry in the United States potentially valued at $400 billion. This lucrative and unregulated market may now be susceptible to the same globalized corruption that has come to define international sport. Panelists will provide their insights into the structure of international sport, the globalization of sports gambling, and how to protect American sport from the corruption that has swept over the rest of the world.
The following panelists are scheduled to participate:
- Declan Hill, Professor of Investigations, University of New Haven
- David Larkin, U.S. lawyer; co-founder of ChangeFIFA
- Marko Stanovic, Balkan-based former match-fixer
- Alexandra Wrage, President and CEO, TRACE International; former member of FIFA’s failed Independent Governance Committee
