Matchfixing in esports: an accident looking for somewhere to happen?

May 15 – When he was in charge of UEFA, Michel Platini famously described match-fixing as the cancer of football.
May 15 – When he was in charge of UEFA, Michel Platini famously described match-fixing as the cancer of football.
May 8 – Bulgarian top-flight club Vereya have been thrown out of their domestic league after repeated warnings from UEFA over suspected match-fixing.
April 30 – The Belgian FA (KBVB) have begun the procedure which will determine if KV Mechelen and Waasland-Beveren will be relegated to the second tier of Belgian football after accusations of match-fixing on the final day of last season.
April 26 – The French league are investigating allegations of match-fixing made by EA Guingamp against their relegation rivals SM Caen before the latter’s 1-0 defeat against Angers earlier this month.
April 25 – FIFA have issued lifetime bans to eight current and former players and an agent after they were found guilty of match manipulation.
April 24 – A probe into alleged match-fixing in Tunisia has been launched by both the country’s FA and French police following an alert triggered by French state-owned betting operator Française des Jeux (FDJ).
February 27 – Yet another African referee has been banned for life for match-fixing in the latest sanction to heap ignominy on the credibility of the Continent’s officials.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – Sports betting integrity body ESSA reported 267 match-fixing alerts to the relevant sporting and/or regulatory authorities for investigation in 2018, 83 of those cases were reported in the last quarter.
By Samindra Kunti
February 6 – FIFA has demanded a full investigation into allegations of match-fixing in Kenyan national team matches. Former Kenya international George Owino and convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal (pictured) are believed to have manipulated matches involving the Harambee Stars, including a 2010 World Cup qualifier.
January 30 – Belgian authorities are seeking access to documents relating to alleged corruption acquired by Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto who is under arrest in Hungary.
January 25 – FIFA has handed a lifetime ban to Niger referee Ibrahim Chaibou for taking bribes in the latest sanction meted out to an African official.
December 6 – With the roots of global football match-fixing embedded in parts of Asia, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Kuala Lumpur.
November 29 – Three players from Belgium’s U16 women’s team were approached in a match fixing attempt during an international tournament this year, the Belgian FA (KBVB) has revealed.
November 20 – More than 30 close-season friendly games in Cyprus during 2016, 2017, and 2018 were allegedly fixed, according to local reports citing a probe by a Romanian member of the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), a widespread media network.
By Samindra Kunti
October 16 – Local authorities have charged 20 suspects in the corruption scandal that has engulfed Belgian football. Agents Mogi Bayat and Dejan Veljkovic, FIFA referees Bart Vertenten and Sébastien Delferière, and Brugge coach Ivan Leko are among they key suspects. Charges range from money laundering and criminal organisation to bribery.