All sports are fixed

[Fedayn]

My pirate phase, you mean a picture of me at a pirate themed birthday party, to which someone made a joke about me wearing eye liner and looking about 15, yep, there's no way I was joking when I said that...

I don't know if it's just sad or disturbing that me in eye liner looking 15 has left such a strong impression on your memory and from the looks of this thread psyche.

No that's not what it was referring to, as weird as I find the pirate thing it is frankly harmless fun.

 

[revol68]

Right well when you finally filter through all the barely repressed pedarest filth in your mind maybe you could let us in on it.

 

[Fedayn]

Right well when you finally filter through all the barely repressed pedarest filth in your mind maybe you could let us in on it.

Stop trying that bollocks little man, leave your own little preferences inside your head.

 

[revol68]

Stop trying that bollocks little man, leave your own little preferences inside your head.

look i didn't bring up fancying 15 year olds apropo of nothing, have a think about that, though not too much...

 

[phildwyer]

I reckon this flame war's fixed.

 

[revol68]

I reckon this flame war's fixed.

yeah nothing else could explain such a poor showing from Fedayn.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

I reckon this flame war's fixed.

Yeah, it's two also-rans in the early stages of a minor thread, exactly the sort of fixture when it tends to happen

 

[Jazzz]

I recently did some work for a betting syndicate, and traded on a darts match which was unquestionably fixed. It was Darren Fitton vs. Gary Anderson. By a quirk of the scoring system, both players (both BDO in a mixed tournament) could progress if Anderson won 5-4 or 5-3. After 3-3, Fitton played badly but eventually went 4-3 up. At that point, Fitton had two legs to win the match, one with the throw, yet Anderson was still trading as favourite on betfair. He went on to have countless shots at a double to win the match, and none were anywhere near the target.

We lost £500 on the match!

there was no investigation despite pretty damning evidence.

 

[ska invita]

Two new sports fixing claims have come to light:

Renault race fixing (which has already created one resignation)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/sep/11/flavio-briatore-nelson-piquet-renault-race-fixing

and now bowls
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/sep/18/bowling-match-rigging-new-zealand

 

[ska invita]

Oooh we got a nibbler here:
Uefa investigates 40 European games in match-fixing crackdown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/25/uefa-match-fixing-champions-league

Forty Champions League and Uefa Cup games are under investigation for suspected match-fixing, European football's governing body revealed today.

All of the cases, 15 of which took place in the last two years and the rest within the last four to five years, concerned early qualifying rounds and most involved clubs from eastern Europe.

tip of the iceberg, but its a start

 

[ska invita]

Cup match-fixing probe launched in Scotland yesterday after a dodgey 7-0 game in the Scottish Cup with high betting on that result:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8280038.stm

this one looks blatant, but it again its at the lower end of the spectrum.

 

[ska invita]

Two imortant books:

Hill came face-to-face with the multi-billion dollar illegal Asian gambling industry. Over four years, he interviewed more than two hundred people, including professional gamblers, Mafia hitmen, undercover cops, top-level international soccer players, referees, and officials. He met men who claim they have bribed their way into fixing the results of some of the biggest matches in the sport. Initially very sceptical, Hill travelled across four continents to corroborate their stories. He found soccer leagues where mobsters have fixed more than eighty per cent of the games. But most chilling, he met and then was adopted by a small group of match-fixers.

In The Fix, Hill explains the structure and mechanics of illegal gambling syndicates, what soccer players and referees do (or not do) to affect the outcome of their games, why relatively rich and high-status athletes would fix games, how and why club officials would bribe the opposition and how they get referees “on their side.” Perhaps most shocking is Hill’s discovery that gambling fixers have successfully infiltrated the game, all the way to the top international matches.

The book, however, is not just about match fixing in soccer, the world’s most popular sport. Throughout the text, Hill uses examples from other sports – tennis, hockey, even rowing – to show that the credibility of professional sport now lies on a fragile foundation, and it provides enough hints to suspect that all sports above amateur level should look nervously over their shoulder.

http://www.howtofixasoccergame.com/

and this one, a forthcoming book on outright corruption in Chinese soccer:

Sorry saga of mainland soccer corruption
New book lifts the lid on litany of rigged games, bribed officials and crooked team owners
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCM...360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=China&s=News

 

[ska invita]

Two good articles here from the Indy:

'They can fix games in any league, I've seen it – and it's coming here'
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...een-it-ndash-and-its-coming-here-1547558.html

FA fears it is powerless to fight rising threat of match-fixing
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ght-rising-threat-of-matchfixing-1547560.html

 

[stupid kid]

There are a lot of people (not including myself) that believe the NFL fixes games to make better storylines. Particularly the Patriots beating the Rams in a huge upset after they'd been on the receiving end of a correct but usually uncalled rule earlier in the playoffs, back in 2001/2 and the Steelers beating the Seahawks. Also at the collegiate level of American Football, where there are several conferences each of which are separate organisations with individual teams competing against teams from other conferences in bowl games at the end of the season, there's a very widespread belief that referees deliberately call the games for the favourites to ensure their conference will have an undefeated team and thus a better shot at getting to the national championship game.

 

[Silva]

There are a lot of people (not including myself) that believe the NFL fixes games to make better storylines. Particularly the Patriots beating the Rams in a huge upset after they'd been on the receiving end of a correct but usually uncalled rule earlier in the playoffs, back in 2001/2 and the Steelers beating the Seahawks. Also at the collegiate level of American Football, where there are several conferences each of which are separate organisations with individual teams competing against teams from other conferences in bowl games at the end of the season, there's a very widespread belief that referees deliberately call the games for the favourites to ensure their conference will have an undefeated team and thus a better shot at getting to the national championship game.

No need to with the NCAA. The way to get into bowls and to choose who goes to the BCS Championship Game is so bizarre they could do pretty much what they want and get away with it.

In the NFL... well, I feel some players and teams do get away with an awful lot of bizarre calls. Others like the Ravens this year, whine a lot about being deliberately targeted by the refs, but they're mostly asking for a break for their own stupidity.
Still, there were cases were the rules were interpreted very "creatively" during a match. The "Tuck Rule" is perhaps the best example of that.

 

[strung out]

interesting stuff

 

[ska invita]

Dont mean to seem obsessed, and I know this is pure speculation, but Hilario, Chelsea's replacement goalkeeper, looks like he got a taste of the Man City cheque book this weekend. The two attempted saves he made against the two goals are really hard to see as anything other than a deliberate let in - especially the first goal, but the second is equally pathetic (he just fell to the floor). If its not a bribe hes just utter utter shit.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Dont mean to seem obsessed, and I know this is pure speculation, but Hilario, Chelsea's replacement goalkeeper, looks like he got a taste of the Man City cheque book this weekend. The two attempted saves he made against the two goals are really hard to see as anything other than a deliberate let in - especially the first goal, but the second is equally pathetic (he just fell to the floor). If its not a bribe hes just utter utter shit.

he's just a shit keeper, you know? he's done something similar before i'm sure. also he may be abit rusty as he hasn't played much.

 

[bromley]

Two professional English clubs are in administation. Which former England manager links the two clubs?

 

[ska invita]

Occasionally someone, somewhere gets nobbled. I work for a bookmaker and we get strange betting patterns very infrequently. At some point in every sport something will have been fixed, but saying that 'all sports are fixed' is ludicrous.

its just a tabloid headline thing i was going for. But I doubt any sport is immune

 

[ska invita]

more news from the world of match rigging - this time its no other than the World Cup

England World Cup Chief Quits Over Spain/Russia Corruption Claims
Lord Triesman is to stand down from his position as chairman for the 2018 World Cup bid team.

It is reported that Triesman will not be leaving his role as chairman of the Football Association at the moment.

Triesman has acted following a newspaper report this morning in the Mail on Sunday, where he suggested that Spain could end its bid to host the tournament in support of rival bidders Russia if they helped to bribe referees at this summer's World Cup.

/

Triesman was quoted in the article as saying: "Spain are looking for help, to bribe the referees."
/
The article in the Mail on Sunday also quotes Triesman as saying: "There's some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees... and pay them.

"My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they've not said so, will vote for Spain.

"And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/wo...ngland-world-cup-chief-quits-over-spainrussia

Whats the response to this? An investigation into corruption? No, Triesman should stand down!

Speaking about Triesman's decision to step down, Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told BBC Sport: '"It is absolutely the right decision to take.

"Our top priority as a new government is to win this bid for the country and I am delighted they have acted as quickly and decisively as they have done.

 

[ska invita]

beg your pardon, there will be some kind of enquiry. ive heard hutton is free
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/17/fifa-investigate-lord-triesman-remarks

 

[ska invita]

Its a day later and the reaction to this story in which a chairman of the FA talks casually about the bribing of refs is astonishing - everyone seems to be playing the man (the Mail on Sunday) and not the ball (that football is corrupt to the core).

lineker has quit the paper over its conduct, for example http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...2010/may/18/gary-lineker-triesman-mail-sunday
Why? Surely he should want rid of corruption in the sport, and all exposure of it is good news, no?

this will all blow over and zero will come of it, in terms or prosecution or future prevention of corruption, but that doesnt take away from the depths of the fixing that we can witness here.

 

[ska invita]

Next witness: Test Cricket

Man arrested over England v Pakistan cricket match-fixing allegations

The penultimate day of the Test at Lord's gets underway tomorrow morning overshadowed by allegations in the News of the World that a number of members of the Pakistan team were involved in cheating during the current match.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/aug/28/pakistan-england-test-match-fixing-allegations-arrest

The newspaper alleged that two bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, delivered three deliberate no-balls against England yesterday and on Thursday, in line with the predications of an alleged middleman in London who met undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel.

The News of the World reported that a man it named as Mazhar Majeed, an alleged match-fixer, had taken £150,000 in order to let the undercover team in on an alleged match-fixing scam.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Those no balls they showed really were suspicious looking. Not sure if they can be defended, atleast it isn't anything worse than that.

 

[ska invita]

Pakistan spot betting scandal throws cricket into crisis
Police confiscate mobile phones from three players after allegations of spot fixing during the Lord's Test
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/aug/29/pakistan-spot-betting-scandal-cricket

ha ha ha ha
overpaid scamming bastads

EDIT: this thread should be in general sports really

Questions were first raised in the mid 1990s when Australian players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh accused the then Pakistan captain, Salim Malik, of offering them bribes to perform poorly.

Four years ago, the team was accused of ball tampering during a tour to England. The Australian umpire Darrell Hair ruled that Pakistan had forfeited the test at the Oval by refusing to take the field in a protest over his ball-tampering ruling.

In May this year the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit looked at the team's poor performance after being heavily beaten by Australia during a tour of the country. Pakistan's team manager, Saeed, insisted today cricket in the country was not "institutionally corrupt" and said the claims in the News of the World were unproven.

 

[ska invita]

Interesting article here about gambling cartels and cricket - generally making the point that because gambling is illegal in the subcontinent, it breeds hardman actions, with players and their families being threatened/geniuinely hurt.

Pakistan cricket scandal: kidnapping and violence enforce gambling scams
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/aug/30/pakistan-cricket-scandal-gambling-scams

Its nice to see News of the World (who broke this story)) doing some investigative journalism - a rare thing these days

 

[ska invita]

I havent been keeping this thread updated, but two big stories:

Pakistan cricket team in deep curroption, with agent having 'fixed matches for years'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/10/spot-fixing-agent-pakistan-matches-years

And then theres Rooney's dad and uncle arrested for getting a player to deliberately send themselves off in a game in Scotland
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...ad-Thomas-nicked-EXCLUSIVE-article808660.html

--
Older news here:

Accrington Stanley vs Bury (2008)
No less than five League Two players were banned by the Football Association for betting on the outcome of a game featuring the club they played for. The fixture, a 2-0 defeat against Bury, saw Jay Harris, David Mannix, Robert Williams and captain Peter Cavanagh of Accrington all betting on their team to lose, while Bury's Andrew Mangan bet on his team to win. All five were handed fines and lengthy bans from the game after the FA found them guilty.

 

[ska invita]

More out and out match rigging in Italian football :

Italy's Euro 2012 camp hit by dawn police raid

Police officers swooped on the Italian national football team's training camp at dawn on Monday to search the room of defender Domenico Criscito, and inform him he is being investigated in a widening match-fixing scandal.

At the same time as the visit, which came just days before the start of the European football championships, police arrested 19 people, including 11 players, among them Stefano Mauri, the captain of leading Serie A side Lazio, and placed Antonio Conte, the manager of champions Juventus, under investigation.

Officers arrived at the Italian team's camp at Coverciano in Tuscany at 6.40am to tell former Genoa defender Domenico Criscito he would face questions in the investigation into gambling on fixed results, which has already seen one team docked points and players handed lengthy suspensions.

"You can imagine the atmosphere here, everyone knows everyone and people are not exactly calm," one official at the camp told the Guardian. Of the 32 players invited to Coverciano, around 27 were due to be named on Monday on a provisional list for championships by team manager Cesare Prandelli, with the final list of 23 to be unveilde on Tuesday. Criscito, who plays for Zenit St Petersburg, was expected to make the cut.

Magistrates in Cremona who are running the investigation have focused previously mainly on Serie B matches, but Monday's operation revealed that investigators now have the top division in their sights.

Among those arrested were Omar Milanetto, the former captain of Genoa, and Sampdoria striker Christian Bertani, as well as fixers who allegedly paid off players to lose games or pre-arrange the number of goals to be scored. The investigation of JConte concerns his time at Siena.

etc: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/italy-euro-2012-camp-raid

Italian media reported that Serie A games last season under suspicion involved Napoli, Sampdoria, Brescia, Bari, Lecce, Palermo, Lazio and Genoa.
The federation will start a massive trial on 31 May involving 22 clubs, 52 players and 33 matches, mostly played in Italy's Serie B in recent seasons.

 

[1927]

What a different approach of the Italian authroities to the Uk courts who agreed to set a court date for JT after the Euros so as not to upset the camp!