Between 60 and 80 countries reported match fixing in soccer matches in last 3 yrs

Allegations of match fixing have been reported by 60 to 80 countries for each of the last three years and the head of Interpol-FIFA initiative is set to fight the crime.

John Abbott, who is leading Interpol's and FIFA's fight against irregular betting, revealed at the Soccerex Global Convention that far tougher legislation is required worldwide to fight the crime.

Abbott said that match fixing is a global problem and it is showing no signs of abating, and added that it is not new, as a Liverpool-Manchester United game was fixed in the early years of the 20th century, but the really big change is that professional criminals have got involved for fraud purposes, Sport24 reported.

He said that they have evidence of organised crime groups in China, Russia, the Balkans, the United States and Italy making substantial money.

Abbott claimed that billions of dollars were involved, adding that sports governing bodies and football associations need to get real about prevention. He said many sports, of course, are affected by match-fixing, but football, the global game, is top of the league and cricket is second.

Abbott said that the extent of the problem is that each year for the last three years between 60 and 80 countries have reported allegations of match-fixing.

He said that they need better legislation throughout the world, but he does not think that they will ever have one global law covering match-fixing but added that all the authorities need to work closer with each other to stop it happening.