NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — European Union sports ministers sought Thursday to forge a united front against match-fixing to combat what they consider one of the most serious threats to modern sports.
At a meeting in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, they called for “dissuasive, effective and proportionate” criminal and disciplinary sanctions against offenders, especially in serious, cross-border cases.
They urged increased coordination on a European and international level and improved cooperation between law enforcement, governments, sports officials and betting operators.
They also urged improved monitoring to detect match-fixing cases and backed initiatives to raise awareness about the problem.
EU Sport Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said match-fixing has grown to such an extent that no country can avoid it or counter it alone.
“We’ve all agreed that we must unite forces … all authorities must cooperate in order to have results,” Vassiliou told a news conference. “No country is excluded … they may not have a problem this year, but they will arise the following year and beyond.”
Vassiliou said the EU isn’t now seeking to push for uniform, EU-wide legislation against match-fixing despite legal discrepancies in member countries. Instead, the EU is throwing its support behind a proposed Council of Europe convention aimed at establishing common anti-match fixing practices.
A string of recent soccer match-fixing scandals in countries such as Italy, Greece, Turkey, Malta, Israel and Finland has cast a shadow over the sport.
