THE myth that match fixing in sport, like the inability to form an orderly queue, was something that only involved unscrupulous foreigners has now been soundly debunked.
The startling revelations yesterday that six members of an alleged gambling syndicate, including one former player, had been arrested on suspicion of arranging matches in England was a thudding reality check for anyone still believing it was something that only happened in other places.
If the home of football can be tainted in such a way then only the naive would assume Scottish football is not similarly at risk. Stewart Regan, chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, warned recently games here could be targeted by fixers, while revealing increased 'activity' linked to betting had been noted at matches all the way down to women's under-17 games. The proliferation of in-play markets now offered by bookmakers means anyone, anywhere can bet on just about anything.
In such circumstances there will always be someone looking to gain an advantage by whatever means. In the lower leagues in particular, where media attention is scarce and salaries small, opportunity abounds for those who can persuade players, managers, referees or officials to help dictate the outcome of a match in return for financial reward. In the case revealed yesterday by the Daily Telegraph, players were reportedly offered £5000 to get booked early in a game to signal that the fix had been arranged. It is not difficult to see why that could be tempting to those paid barely 1% of that amount.
"You look at the conditions where match fixing potentially thrives," said Jack Ross of PFA Scotland. "In other countries it's been where there has been non-payment of wages, and in Scotland thankfully there's not been a huge problem with that. There have also been incidents elsewhere where there has been intimidation and threats of violence - at the moment I think we're okay in that regard, too. But players on low wages is another potential scenario that may attract people looking to fix matches. How we address that part I don't know. Do you pay people more just so they're not tempted by match fixing? That's a hard argument to win."
For all the criticism of Scottish football, its integrity has never been in doubt. Should questions start to emerge, however, about whether a team, player or league is entirely honest the effect could be immediate and devastating. "The biggest threat is the reputational damage," said Ross. "Any negative story doesn't do the game any good but when you get to the level of this [match fixing] then you not only risk alienating supporters, but there is also the risk of damaging sources of commercial income as well. Any allegations or proven cases of match fixing can do severe damage to the image of the game, even thought they might be the exception rather than the rule."
PFA Scotland recently held a conference on match fixing at which one of the invitees was Joachim Walltin, the head of the Norwegian players union, who spoke about his country's experience with the issue. "We invited Joachim as Norway has an ongoing investigation into match fixing in lower league matches," said Ross. "Geographically Norway is so close to Scotland and I don't think it's a country that any of us would associate with having regular problems with corruption. So if match fixing could happen there then potentially it could happen here too."
Kevin Carpenter, a sports lawyer at Hill Dickinson who has written extensively about match fixing, was another who spoke at the conference. He believes Scottish football could well be vulnerable to an approach from match fixers. "My thought is that Scotland is a similar market to the Scandinavian leagues and there have been serious issues there over the past couple of years. I think Scotland is probably a prime market for match fixers.
"The problem is that once the criminals have got you, you can't say no. Players want to get out but they can't. Once you're in the grip of the fixers that's it really."
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