Match fixing or game fixing in organized sports occurs when a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result. Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident will be referred to as race fixing. Games that are deliberately lost are sometimes called thrown games. When a team intentionally loses a game to obtain a perceived future competitive advantage rather than gamblers being involved, the team is often said to have tanked the game instead of having thrown it.

Thrown games, when motivated by gambling, require contacts (and normally money transfers) between gamblers, players, team officials, and/or referees. These contacts and transfer can sometimes be found, and lead to prosecution, by law or by the sports league(s). In contrast, tanking is internal to the team and very hard to prove. Often, substitutions made by the coach designed to deliberately increase the team's chances of losing (frequently by having one or more key players sit out, often using minimal or phantom injuries as a public excuse for doing this), rather than ordering the players actually on the field to intentionally underperform, were cited as the main factor in cases where tanking has been alleged.

Contents 1 Reasons for and means of fixing matches 1.1 Getting a better draft pick 1.2 Better playoff chances 1.3 More favorable schedule next year 1.4 Match fixing by referees 1.5 Match fixing to a draw or a fixed score 1.6 Individual performance in team sports 2 History 2.1 Japan 3 Match fixing and gambling today 4 Recent incidents 5 Outside of sports 6 References

Reasons for and means of fixing matches

Match fixing is often motivated by agreements with gamblers. But even if there are no gamblers involved, sometimes a team may deliberately lose to gain some perceived future advantage. This section explores many possible motivations for not playing as hard as possible to win.

Getting a better draft pick

In the NHL and NBA, teams near the bottom of the standings have sometimes been accused of throwing games at the end of the season to finish with the worst record in the league — thereby gaining the first draft pick. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America A draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, and Australia to allocate certain players to Sports teams To deter this, these leagues now use a draft lottery which does not guarantee the first pick to the team at the bottom of the standings. Other leagues such as the Australian Football League and the NFL do not make use of a lottery, which leads to suspicions of match fixing, especially since top draft picks can have top careers. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. Like the NFL, MLB does not conduct a draft lottery, though it is very unlikely that an MLB team would tank a game for a draft pick because of the series of minor leagues that draft picks have to go through, and the fact that a first round draft pick may go his entire professional career without appearing in a single major league game.

Better playoff chances

In the NBA (but not in the NHL, which re-seeds teams after the first playoff round), there have also been allegations of teams throwing games in order to finish in sixth rather than fifth place in the conference standings, thus enabling the team in question to evade a possible playoff match with the conference's top seed until the final round of playoffs in that conference (for more details see single-elimination tournament). A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of Tournament where the loser of each For example, the 2006 Los Angeles Clippers allegedly tanked late season games so they could finish with the 6th seed and play the 8th-ranked team in the league's Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, who were the 3rd seed by way of winning their division. The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. Another quirk in the league's playoff system gave the Clippers even more of an incentive to tank. The NBA is the only one of the four major professional sports leagues of the United States in which home advantage in the playoffs is based strictly on regular-season record without regard to seeding. If the Clippers had finished with the 5th seed in the West, they would have had to face the Dallas Mavericks, who despite being the 4th seed had the second-best record in the conference, which would give the Mavericks home advantage. The Dallas Mavericks (also known as the Mavs) are the professional Basketball team of the National Basketball Association based in Dallas Texas However, the Clippers would have home advantage in a series against the Nuggets by virtue of a better overall record. If tanking was indeed their strategy, it worked, as the Clippers easily won their first round series. Following the 2006 season, the NBA changed its playoff format so that the best second-place team in each conference would be able to obtain up to the #2 seed should it have the second-best conference record. ^[1] On occasion, an NFL team has also been accused of throwing its final regular-season game in an attempt to "choose" its possible opponent in the subsequent playoffs. For example, in the closing game of the 2004 season, the Indianapolis Colts faced the Denver Broncos. The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis Indiana. The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. With a win, the Broncos would advance to the playoffs as a wild card and face the Colts as their first round playoff opponent. It would seem the Colts had little incentive to win as their loss would ensure that they would play a team they dominated in the 2003 Wild Card game. Sure enough, the Colts rested their starters, lost the game, and went on to blow out the Broncos the following week in the playoffs.

Perhaps the most notable example of this was when the San Francisco 49ers, who had clinched a playoff berth, lost their regular-season finale in 1988 to the Los Angeles Rams, thereby keeping the New York Giants (who had defeated the 49ers in the playoffs in both 1985 and 1986, also injuring 49er quarterback Joe Montana in the latter year's game) from qualifying for the postseason; after the game, Giants quarterback Phil Simms angrily accused the 49ers of "laying down like dogs. The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team The St Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford New Jersey. For the actor with a similarly pronounced name see Joe Mantegna. Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3 1955 in Lebanon Kentucky) is a former American football Quarterback, and currently a Television "

A more recent example of possible tanking occurred in the ice hockey competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held at the Torino Palasport Olimpico and the Torino Esposizioni in Turin, Italy The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in In Pool B, Sweden was to face Slovakia in the last pool match for both teams. 2008 World Championship team 2006 teams Olympic record 1920 - Finished in 4th place 1924 - Finished The Slovak men's National Ice Hockey team is one of the major ice hockey powers in the world Sweden coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson publicly contemplated tanking against Slovakia, knowing that if his team won, their quarterfinal opponent would either be Canada, the 2002 gold medalists. Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (born March 23, 1958, in Karlskoga, Sweden) is a retired Swedish Ice hockey player now head coach History From 1920 until 1963 the Senior Amateur Club teams representing Canada were usually the most recent Allan Cup champions 2002 Winter Olympic Games Ice hockey games were held at the E Center and Peaks Ice Arena in Salt Lake City and Provo Utah or the Czech Republic, 1998 gold medalists. Coaching history Olympics 1994 – Ivan Hlinka 1998 – Ivan Hlinka and Slavomir Lener 2002 – Josef Augusta Overview Games were played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena. Gustafsson would tell Swedish television "One is cholera, the other the plague. Cholera, sometimes known as Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera, is an infectious Gastroenteritis caused by the Bacterium Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as " Sweden lost the match 3-0; the most obvious sign of tanking was when Sweden had a five-on-three power play with five NHL stars—Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, Nicklas Lidström, and Fredrik Modin—on the ice, and failed to put a shot on goal. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America (born July 20, 1973) is a Swedish professional Ice hockey center who is currently a free agent in the National Hockey League (NHL Mats Johan Sundin (born February 13, 1971) is a Swedish professional Ice hockey player who most recently played for the Toronto Maple Leafs Daniel Alfredsson (born December 11 1972 of Gothenburg, Sweden, is a professional Swedish Ice hockey player Nicklas Erik Lidström (born April 28, 1970 in Västerås) is a Swedish professional Ice hockey defenceman who has Fredrik "Freddie" Modin (born October 8, 1974, in Sundsvall, Medelpad) is a Swedish Ice hockey Left winger If he was seeking to tank, Gustafsson got his wish; Sweden would face a much less formidable quarterfinal opponent in Switzerland. The Swiss national men's ice hockey team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and is controlled by the Schweizerischer Canada would lose to Russia in a quarterfinal in the opposite bracket, while Sweden went on to win the gold medal, defeating the Czechs in the semifinals. 2008 IIHF World Championship team See 2008 IIHF World Championship rosters 2007 IIHF World Championship team ^[2]

More favorable schedule next year

NFL teams have been accused of throwing games in order to obtain a more favorable schedule the following season; this was especially true between 1977 and 1993, when a team finishing last in a five-team division would get to play five of its eight non-division matches the next season against other last-place teams.

Match fixing by referees

In addition to the match fixing that is committed by players, coaches and/or team officials, it is not unheard of to have results manipulated by corrupt referees. A referee is a person who has authority to make decisions about play in many Sports Officials in various sports are known by a variety of titles including referee Since 2004, separate scandals have erupted in prominent sports leagues in Portugal, Germany, Brazil and the United States, all of which concerned referees who fixed matches for gamblers. A scandal is a widely Publicized incident that involves Allegations of wrongdoing, disgrace or moral outrage Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Many sports writers have speculated that in leagues with high player salaries, it is far more likely for a referee to become corrupt since their pay in such competitions is usually much less than that of the players.

Match fixing to a draw or a fixed score

Match fixing does not necessarily involve deliberately losing a match. Occasionally, teams have been accused of deliberately playing to a draw (or a fixed score) where this ensures some mutual benefit (e. g. both teams advancing to the next stage of a competition. ) For example, in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, West Germany played Austria in the last match of group B. The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th staging of the World Cup was held in Spain from June 13 to July 11. The German national football team (Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft From 1950 to 1990 the team was also informally called West Germany in English as since The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the Country of Austria in international competition and is controlled A West German victory by 1 or 2 goals would result in both teams advancing; any less and Germany was out; any more and Austria was out (and replaced by Algeria, who had just beaten West Germany). The Algeria national football team, nicknamed Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes, is the national team of Algeria and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne West Germany attacked hard and scored after 10 minutes. Afterwards, the players then proceeded to just kick the ball around aimlessly for the remainder of the match. Algerian supporters were so angered that they waved banknotes at the players, while a German fan burned his German flag in disgust. ^[3] By the second half, the ARD commentator de:Eberhard Stanjek refused any further comment on the game, while the Austrian television commentator de:Robert Seeger advised viewers to switch off their sets. As a result, FIFA changed its tournament scheduling for subsequent World Cups so that the final pair of matches in each four team group are played simultaneously. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for International Federation of Association Football) The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international Association football

A more recent and similar example of alleged match fixing in football occurred in the 2004 European Football Championship. The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship (or just Euro 2004) was the twelfth edition of the UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football Because unlike FIFA, UEFA takes "head-to-head" play into consideration before overall goal difference when ranking teams level on points, a situation arose in Group C where Sweden and Denmark played to a 2-2 draw, which was a sufficiently high scoreline to eliminate Italy (which had lower-scoring draws with the Swedes and Danes) regardless of Italy's result with already-eliminated Bulgaria. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for International Federation of Association Football) The Union of European Football Associations (Union des associations européennes de football is the administrative and controlling body for European football. In Sports such as Ice hockey and football (soccer, goal difference (that is goals scored minus goals conceded is often the first Tiebreaker The Swedish national football team is the national football team of Sweden and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. The Denmark national football team is controlled by the Danish Football Association and has represented the country of Denmark in international football The Italian national football team is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC and represents Italy in international football competition The Bulgaria national football team is the national football team of Bulgaria and is controlled by the Bulgarian Football Union. Although Italy beat Bulgaria by only one goal and would hypothetically have been eliminated using the FIFA tie-breaker too, some Italian fans bitterly contended that the FIFA tie-breaker would have motivated their team to play harder and deterred their Scandinavian rivals from, in their view, at the very least half-heartedly playing out the match after the score became 2-2. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well

But the FIFA tie-breaker, or any goal-differential scheme, can cause problems, too. There have been incidents (especially in basketball) where players on a favored team have won the game but deliberately ensured the quoted point spread was not covered (see point shaving). Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Spread betting is any of various types of Wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the Accuracy of the wager rather than a simple Point shaving, in organized Sports is a type of Match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Conversely, there are cases where a team not only lost (which might be honest) but lost by some large amount, perhaps to ensure a point spread was covered, or to grant some non-gambling related favor to the victor. Perhaps the most famous example was the match between Argentina and Peru in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the World Cup was held in Argentina between June 1 and June 25. Argentina needed a four goal victory to advance over Brazil, an almost unheard-of margin at this level of competition, especially since Argentina had a weak offense (6 goals in 5 games) and Peru a stout defence (6 goals allowed in 5 games). Yet somehow, Argentina won 6-0. Much was made over the fact that the Peruvian goalkeeper was born in Argentina, and Peru was dependent on Argentinian grain shipments, but nothing was ever proven.

Although the Denmark-Sweden game above led to calls for UEFA to adopt FIFA's tiebreaking formula for future tournaments, it is not clear this solves the problem - the Argentina-Peru game shows a possible abuse of the FIFA tie-breaker. Proponents of the UEFA tie-breaker argue that it reduces the value of blow-outs, whether these be the result of a much stronger team running up the score or an already-eliminated side allowing an unusually large number of goals. Perhaps the most infamous incident occurred in December 1983 when Spain, needing to win by eleven goals to qualify for the 1984 European Football Championship ahead of the Netherlands, defeated Malta by a score of 12-1 on the strength of nine second half goals. The Spanish National Football Team, commonly referred to as La Selección, is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the es [[Spanish The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France. The Netherlands national football team is the national football team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Especially in international football, such lopsided results are seen as unsavoury even they are honest. If anything, these incidents serves as evidence that the FIFA tie-breaker can cause incentives to perpetrate a fix in some circumstances, the UEFA tie-breaker in others.

Individual performance in team sports

Finally, it should be noted that bookmakers in the early 21st century accept bets on a far wider range of sports-related propositions than ever before. Thus, a gambling-motivated fix might not necessarily involve any direct attempt to influence the outright result, especially in team sports where such a fix would require the co-operation (and prerequsitely, the knowledge) of many people, and/or perhaps would be more likely to arouse suspicion. Fixing the result of a more particular proposition might be seen as less likely to be noticed - for example, scandalized former National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy has been alleged to have perpetrated his fixes by calling games in such a manner as to ensure more points than expected were scored by both teams, thus affecting "over-under" bets on the games whilst also ensuring that Donaghy at least did not look to be outright biased. Timothy "Tim" Donaghy (ˈdɒnəgi (born January 7, 1967 in Havertown Pennsylvania) is a former Professional basketball referee An over-under or over/under bet is a wager in which a Sportsbook will predict a number for a statistic in a given game (usually the combined score of the two teams Bias is a term used to describe a Tendency or Preference towards a particular perspective, Ideology or result especially when the tendency interferes Also, bets are increasingly being taken on individual performances in team sporting events, although it is currently unlikely that enough is bet on an average player to allow someone to place a substantial wager on them without being noticed.

History

Since gambling pre-dates recorded history it comes as little surprise that evidence of match fixing is found throughout recorded history. The Ancient Olympics were almost constantly dealing with allegations of athletes accepting bribes to lose a competition and city-states which often tried to manipulate the outcome with large amounts of money. The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of Athletic A sportsperson ( British and American English) or athlete (principally American English is any person who participates regularly in a Sport. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty. These activities went on despite the oath each athlete took to protect the integrity of the events and the severe punishment sometimes inflicted on those who were caught. An oath (from Anglo-Saxon āð, also called plight) is either a Promise or a Statement of Fact calling Chariot racing was also dogged by race fixing throughout its history. Chariot racing (ἁρματοδρομία/armatodromia was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Sports Chariot

By the end of the 19th century gambling was illegal in most jurisdictions, but that did not stop its widespread practice. Boxing soon became rife with fighters "taking a dive" - probably because boxing is an individual sport which makes its matches much easier to fix without getting caught. Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, Baseball also became plagued by match fixing despite efforts by the National League to stop gambling at its games. Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball Matters finally came to a head in 1919 when eight members of the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series (see Black Sox Scandal). The Chicago White Sox are a professional Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The Black Sox Scandal refers to a number of events that took place around and during the play of the 1919 World Series. In an effort to restore confidence, Major League Baseball established the office of the Baseball Commissioner, and one of Kenesaw Mountain Landis's first acts was to ban all involved players for life. The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball. Kenesaw Mountain Landis ( November 20 1866 &ndash November 25 1944) was an American Jurist who served as a federal Strict rules prohibiting gambling persist to this day (See Pete Rose).

Japan

Yaochō (八百長 , やおちょう^?) is a Japanese word meaning a cheating activity which is committed at places where a match, fight, game, competition, or other contest, is held, where the winner and loser are decided in advance by agreement of the competitors or related people. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities It is believed that the word "Yaocho" came from the name ("Chobei") of the owner of a vegetable stand (yaoya) during the Meiji period. The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July Created from the first syllable of "Yaoya" and "chobei", the word "yaocho" was created for a nickname of Chobei. Chobei had a friend called "Isenoumi Godayu" (7th Isenoumi stablemaster) with whom he played the game Igo, who had once been a Sumo wrestler "Kashiwado Sogoro" (former shikona was "Kyonosato") and now was a "Toshiyori" (a stablemaster of Sumo). Isenoumi stable is a stable of Sumo wrestlers Part of the Tokitsukaze group of stables it is one of the oldest active stables in sumo dating back to is a competitive Contact sport where two Wrestlers ( rikishi) attempt to force one another out of a circular ring ( Dohyo) or to touch the ground A toshiyori (年寄 is a Sumo elder To become an elder a retiring wrestler must have fought at least one tournament in the Sanyaku ranks or else Although Chobei was a better Igo player than Isenoumi, he sometimes lost games on purpose to please Isenoumi, so that Isenoumi would continue to buy merchandise from his shop. Afterward, once people knew of his cheating, they started to use "Yaocho" as a word meaning any decision to win/lose a match in advance by negotiation etc. with the expectation of secondary profit, even though the match seems to be held seriously and fairly.

Economists, using statistical analysis, have shown very strong evidence of match fixing in Sumo wrestling. ^[4]

Match fixing and gambling today

Influenced by baseball's experiences, the NFL and NBA have followed MLB's lead and adopted a hard line against gambling on its games, especially by those directly involved in the league. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The NCAA goes as far as to prohibit its athletes and coaches from gambling on any sport in which the NCAA holds a championship, and prohibits venues in championship play to carry advertising for any form of gambling, including state lotteries. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations Each of these organizations was, and may still be influenced by fears that their games could come under the influence of gamblers in the absence of these tough measures.

In Britain the authorities in both government and sport have taken a softer line on gambling. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. Sports betting was legalized in the 1960s and organizations such as The Football Association seem to have taken the stance that gambling on their events is inevitable — unlike the American leagues, The FA only prohibits betting on a match by those directly involved in the game in question. The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In 1964 in the great British football betting scandal of the 1960s was uncovered. The British betting scandal of 1964 was a Scandal in English Association football in which eight professional players were jailed for offences arising from A betting ring organized by Jimmy Gauld and involving several Football League players had been fixing matches. James " Jimmy " Gauld (born 9 May, 1931) is a former Scottish footballer who became notorious for being convicted The most famous incident involved three Sheffield Wednesday players, including two England international players, that were subsequently banned from football for life and imprisoned after it was discovered they had bet against their team winning in a match against Ipswich Town. PLEASE NOTE This section is the introduction Please do not add too much detail here A similar scandal had occurred in 1915. The 1915 British football betting scandal occurred when a Football League First Division match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Old Trafford

The integrity of horse racing remains an ongoing concern since gambling is an integral part of this sport. Recent allegations of race fixing have centered around the recently-formed betting exchanges which unlike traditional bookmakers allow punters to lay an outcome (that is, to bet against a particular runner). The term betting exchange is used to describe a form of bookmaking in which the operator offsets its risk perfectly through technology such that the effect to the customer is that customers A bookmaker, bookie or turf accountant, is an organization or a person that takes bets and pays winnings depending upon results and depending on the nature Leading exchange Betfair has responded to the allegations by signing Memorandums of Understanding with the Jockey Club, The FA, the International Cricket Council, the Association of Tennis Professionals and other sporting authorities. Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England. For the North American thoroughbred horse racing industry see The Jockey Club. The International Cricket Council (ICC is the international governing body of Cricket. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP was formed in 1972 to protect the interests of male professional Tennis players These MOUs are evidence of the vast difference between British and American attitudes — as of 2008 it would be almost unthinkable for an American sports league to sign such an agreement with a bookmaker or betting exchange.

It should be noted that while British football has never been rocked by match fixing allegations on the scale of the Black Sox scandal (the aforementioned incidents involved league matches, not major championships), football match-fixing has become a serious problem in parts of Continental Europe. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The Black Sox Scandal refers to a number of events that took place around and during the play of the 1919 World Series. Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European

Cricket has been scandalized by several gambling and match fixing allegations in recent years, culminating in the World Cup investigations of 2007. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was a Men 's Cricket Tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007 using the sport's These highly publicised enquiries were prompted by the surprise defeat of Pakistan in the Cup by Ireland and the subsequent murder investigation into the suspicious death, straight after the match, of Pakistan's head coach Bob Woolmer. The Pakistan National Cricket Team is an international Cricket team representing Pakistan. The Ireland cricket team is the Cricket team representing all Ireland (i Robert Andrew Woolmer ( 14 May 1948 – 18 March 2007) was an international Cricketer, professional Cricket coach and also Cricket match-fixing and the fallout of the Woolmer case have since become the subject of crime/thriller literature in the novel 'Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate' (2008) by Adam Corres.

The high salaries of some of today's professional athletes likely serves to insulate their leagues from player-instigated match fixing. Professional sports, as opposed to amateur Sports are those in which athletes receive payment for their performance In the NCAA and in leagues where the salaries are comparatively less (or, in the case of the amateur NCAA, zero), match fixing by players remains a serious concern. The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations

Recent incidents

• In February 1999 a Malaysian-based betting syndicate was caught attempting to install a remote-control device to sabotage the floodlights at English Premier League team Charlton Athletic's ground with the aid of a corrupt security officer. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs Charlton Athletic Football Club (also known as The Addicks) is a professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of The Valley is a 27111-capacity sports Stadium in Charlton London, England. If the match had been abandoned after half-time, then the result and bets would have stood. Subsequent investigations showed that the gang had been responsible for previously unsuspected "floodlight failures" at West Ham's ground in November 1997, and again a month later at Crystal Palace's ground during a home match of Palace's groundsharing tenant Wimbledon. } West Ham United Football Club is an English football club based in Upton Park, London Borough of Newham, East London, who have played For the football team see Upton Park FC The Boleyn Ground is the official name of Upton Park, the football Stadium Crystal Palace FC is an English football club based in South Norwood, London. Selhurst Park is a British football Stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon This article refers to the original club from London which existed until 2004 ^[5][6]

• In 2000 the Delhi police intercepted a conversation between a blacklisted bookie and the South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje in which they learnt that Cronje accepted money to throw matches. Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population The South African cricket team, also known as The Proteas are a national Cricket team representing South Africa Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (September 25 1969 - June 1 2002 was a South African Cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in The South African government refused to allow any of its players to face the Indian investigation unit, which opened up a can of worms. A court of inquiry was set up and Cronje admitted to throwing matches. He was immediately banned from all cricket. He also named Salim Malik (Pakistan), Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja (India). Saleem Malik ( Urdu: سلیم ملک (born April 16, 1963)(also known as Salim Malik is a former Pakistani Cricketer who played The Pakistan National Cricket Team is an international Cricket team representing Pakistan. Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) is a former captain of the Indian cricket team. Ajaysinhji Daulatsinhji Jadeja was born on 1 February 1971 in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Indian cricket team is an international Cricket team representing India. Jadeja was banned for 4 years. They too were banned from all cricket. As a kingpin, Cronje exposed the dark side of betting, however with his untimely death in 2002 most of his sources also have escaped law enforcement agencies. Two South African cricketers, Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, are also wanted by the Delhi police for their role in the match fixing saga. Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974 in Cape Town) is a South African Cricketer more specifically a Batsman. Nico "Nicky" Boje (born 20 March 1973 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State) was a South African Cricketer who played A few years before in 1998, Australian legends Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were fined for revealing information about the 'weather' to a bookmaker. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. Mark Edward Waugh, AM (born June 2 1965 in Canterbury New South Wales) is a former Australian Cricketer who represented Australia in Test matches Shane Keith Warne (born 13 September 1969 is a former Australian international Cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the John, also known as " John the bookmaker " is the name attributed to an Indian Bookmaker who offered money to Australian cricket team

• In June 2004 in South Africa, thirty-three people (including nineteen referees, club officials, a match commissioner and an official of the South African Football Association) were arrested on match-fixing charges. Events On January 28, International Olympic Committee Vice-President Kim Un-yong is arrested on charges of corruption in Seoul The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa A referee presides over a game of Association football. The referee has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which SAFA redirects here For the JAA programme see SAFA programme.

• In the summer of 2004, Betfair provided evidence of race fixing to City of London Police that led to the arrest of jockey Kieren Fallon and fifteen others on race fixing charges. Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England. The City of London Police is the Home Office Police force responsible for the City of London in England, including the Middle In Sport, a jockey is one who rides Horses in Horse racing or steeplechase racing primarily as a profession Kieren Francis Fallon (born February 22 1965 in Crusheen County Clare, Ireland) is a Flat racing Jockey and has been On 7 December 2007 the judge in the case ordered the jury to find Fallon not guilty on all charges. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

• 2005 Bundesliga scandal: In January 2005, the German Football Association (DFB) and German prosecutors launched separate probes into charges that referee Robert Hoyzer bet on and fixed several matches that he worked, including a German Cup tie. In early 2005, German football was overshadowed by the discovery of a 2 million Euro Match-fixing scandal centered on second division Referee Athletics (track and field For an extensive coverage see 2005 in athletics (track and field Track Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Robert Hoyzer (born August 28, 1979 in Berlin ( West) Germany) is a former football referee who Scandalized The DFB-Pokal ( Deutscher Fußball-Bund-Pokal or German Football-Federation Cup is an elimination football tournament held annually Hoyzer later admitted to the allegations; it has been reported that he was involved with Croat gambling syndicates. Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between He also implicated other referees and players in the match fixing scheme. The first arrests in the Hoyzer investigation were made on January 28 in Berlin, and Hoyzer himself was arrested on February 12 after new evidence apparently emerged to suggest that he had been involved in fixing more matches than he had admitted to. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Hoyzer has been banned for life from football by the DFB. On March 10, a second referee, Dominik Marks, was arrested after being implicated in the scheme by Hoyzer. Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing Still later (March 24), it was reported that Hoyzer had told investigators that the gambling ring he was involved with had access to UEFA's referee assignments for international matches and Champions League and UEFA Cup fixtures several days before UEFA publicly announced them. Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland The Union of European Football Associations (Union des associations européennes de football is the administrative and controlling body for European football. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA. Ultimately, Hoyzer was sentenced to serve 2 years and 5 months in prison.

• In July 2005, Italian Serie B champions Genoa was arbitrarily placed last in the division, and therefore condemned to relegation in Serie C1, after it was revealed that they bribed their opponents in the final match of the season, Venezia to throw the match. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Promotion and Relegation At the end of the season, three teams are promoted to Serie A and four teams are relegated to Serie C1. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Genoa or the abbreviation Genoa CFC, is a professional football club based in the city Società Sportiva Calcio Venezia, commonly referred to as simply Venezia or the abbreviation SSC Venezia, is an Italian professional football Genoa won the match 3-2 and had apparently secured promotion to Serie A. Serie A (officially known as the Lega Calcio Serie A TIM for Sponsorship reasons is a professional league competition for football clubs located

• Brazilian football match-fixing scandal: In September 2005, a Brazilian magazine revealed that two football referees, Edílson Pereira de Carvalho (a member of FIFA's referee staff) and Paulo José Danelon, had accepted bribes to fix matches. Máfia do Apito (literally meaning Whistle's Mafia) sometimes called Escândalo do Apito (meaning Whistle's Scandal) was the name given by the Brazilian |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Edílson Pereira de Carvalho (born August 4, 1962 in Brazil is a former international football referee. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for International Federation of Association Football) Soon afterwards, sport authorities ordered the replaying of 11 matches in the country's top competition, the Campeonato Brasileiro, that had been worked by Edílson. The Série A (informally called Brasileirão) is the highest division of Brazilian football. Both referees have been banned for life from football and face possible criminal charges. Brazilian supporters have taken to shout "Edílson" at a referee who they consider to have made a bad call against their team, in a reference to the scandal.

• 2006 Serie A scandal: In May 2006, perhaps the largest match fixing scandal in the history of Italian Serie A football was uncovered by Italian Police, implicating league champions Juventus, and powerhouses AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio. The 2006 Italian football scandal (Italian more common names Calciopoli or Moggiopoli, sometimes referred to as Calciocaos) involved Italy 's Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to by the abbreviation Milan, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Società Sportiva Lazio, ( commonly referred to SS Lazio or simply Lazio, is an Italian professional Sports club most noted for its football Teams have been suspected of rigging games by selecting favorable referees, and even superstar Italian World Cup team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been charged with betting on football games. Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Cavaliere OMRI is an Italian FIFA World Cup -winning Goalkeeper who currently plays for Italian Serie [1] Initially, Juventus were stripped of their titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06, all four clubs were barred from European club competition in 2006-07, and all except Milan were forcibly relegated to Serie B. The Union of European Football Associations (Union des associations européennes de football is the administrative and controlling body for European football. Promotion and Relegation At the end of the season, three teams are promoted to Serie A and four teams are relegated to Serie C1. ^[7] After all four clubs appealed, only Juventus remained relegated, and Milan were allowed to enter the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The stripping of Juventus' titles stood. ^[8]

• 2007 NBA Referee Scandal: In July 2007 it was revealed that National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy had gambled on 10 to 15 games, including games which he refereed. Timothy "Tim" Donaghy (ˈdɒnəgi (born January 7, 1967 in Havertown Pennsylvania) is a former Professional basketball referee The matter is currently being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the NBA.

• 2007 AFL According to former assistant coach, Carlton Blues deliberately underperformed in its last four matches in the 2007 season in a bid to secure better players in the AFL draft. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest Carlton Football Club, nicknamed The Blues, is the third oldest club in the Australian Football League and one of the oldest Australian rules football

• 2007 NBA According to Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor made comments about Kevin Garnett "tanking it" at the end of the 06-07 season when he went to California to rest his injured knee. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a professional Basketball team based in Minneapolis Minnesota, United States. For the Idaho Senator, see Glen H Taylor. Glen A Taylor (born April 20, 1941) is an American Kevin Maurice Garnett (born May 19, 1976 in Mauldin, South Carolina) is an American professional Basketball player In an interview after a game against the Houston Rockets, Garnett denied these accusations and declined to criticize Taylor in the locker room

Outside of sports

• The 1980s TV game show Starcade had a policy of matching contestants up based on their gaming abilities, which means that after potential contestants had played a number of video games for a certain amount of time, they would be paired up by their total scores. The Houston Rockets are an American professional Basketball team based in Houston Texas. Starcade was a Game show where contestants competed against one another by playing Video games Starcade was produced by JM Although it was written in the rules that intentionally doing badly in order to be paired up to someone who really wasn't that good was grounds for disqualification, many contestants did it anyway, and were stripped of any awarded prizes and disqualified.

References

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic