Football: Spot-Fixing
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has come to light from BBC Wales that some footballers have agreed to spot-fix matches for undercover journalists.
It is alleged that the footballers concerned are former Llanelli (Wales) player, Emile N’Goy, his brother, Hermes N’Goy, and three European players, Idris Laib, Jean-Francois Mbuba and Julien Vercauteren
All of them, when subsequently confronted have strongly denied spot-fixing, although, apart from Emile N’Goy, the other players have, it appears, admitted to the undercover journalists that they had previously spot-fixed matches. It is alleged that they offered to recruit players in lower European football leagues to be involved in spot-fixing, where, generally, there was less scrutiny of games.
Spot-fixing involves players manipulating certain moments in games, such as the issue of red cards, to defraud bookmakers. With the help of players and officials, such events, which are the subject of the bets, are made to happen.
Former FIFA match-fixing investigator, Terry Steans, has stated that spot-fixing can be very hard to detect as it is difficult to investigate cases without the full support of the police.
Sadly, there has always been some corruption surrounding football, perhaps not surprisingly as it is the world’s favourite and most lucrative sport, and this latest revelation only serves to undermine further the integrity of the beautiful game!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
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Dr. Rijkele Betten
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Prof. Dr. Ian S. Blackshaw
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