FIFA making noise against match-fixing

Red cards being dished out left, right and centre by FIFA in the last couple of weeks, at anyone implicated in match-fixing in several parts of the world. Is this a serious crackdown by the game's ruling body or making a lot of noise about the easy pickings - the low-paid players/low-level clubs where it's nice to hear something is being done but nobody outside the local supporters are particularly bothered about it?

A collection of articles from recent days - it's everywhere at the moment:

Singapore widens soccer-fix probe.

Singaporean authorities still won't arrest Dan Tan, but did help get one of his accomplices arrested in Milan last week.

FIFA bans 74 for match-fixing in Italy, S.Korea

No names mentioned, can only assume they weren't deemed to be newsworthy by anyone outside those leagues.

National Super Cup suspected of match fixing

"...an anonymous message was sent to some Vietnamese Professional Football officials just before the game saying that Saigon Xuan Thanh Cement FC will be defeated, and even with more than three goals. The results were exactly as this message: Saigon Xuan Thanh Cement lost in a game that the team played very poorly."

Contrite Hungarian admits to match-fixing ahead of trial

"After the police arrested me, I spent an awful night in a jail where I thought over the whole story. I can only be angry with myself, only then I realised what I had done," he said.

"I have no fear but I am not calm either. Not a day passes without thinking of the others who are still in jail. I have regrets, I lost almost all of my friends, but I told the truth to the investigators."

FIFA extends China match-fixing bans worldwide

Match-fixing bans on 58 Chinese soccer officials and players will be extended worldwide, the sport's governing body FIFA said.

The 58 were banned by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) on Feb. 18 following a three-year push to clean up rampant corruption in the sport in China.

''The sanctions by the Chinese Football Association's disciplinary committee involve players and officials, with 25 receiving a five-year ban from all football activities while the remaining 33 individuals were banned from all football activities for life,'' a FIFA statement said.

AFC probes Lebanon matchfixing report

The Asian Football Confederation are investigating a report of matchfixing in Lebanon, the regional body told Reuters on Wednesday, after the World Cup hopefuls handed out punishments to 22 players for rigging games.

As he waits for jail, Croatian soccer player deeply regrets involvement in match-fixing

The Croatian midfielder was the perfect target for fixers: He was nearing the end of his career, his financially unstable club hadn't paid him a regular salary for 14 months, and he owed money on back taxes and his pension.

Cizmek's story is typical of how the world's most popular sport is increasingly becoming a dirty game — sullied by criminal gangs like the one that bribed Cizmek, and by corrupt officials or others cashing in on the billion-dollar web of match-fixing.

Just a short story about match-fixing

If you've read the other articles, then this one won't shock you - a report of a bankrupt club being taken over by match-fixers and offering players big money to play their 'style' of football.

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur...

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