FIFA Executive Mohamed bin Hammam Receives Second Lifetime Ban

Already fighting a separate lifetime ban, FIFA executive committee member Mohmad bin Hammam of Qatar was handed another lifetime ban from all organized soccer events and activities earlier this week. Facing corruption charges, allegations he offered bribes and tampering with bank accounts during his presidency of the Asian Football Confederation all of which are violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics led to his lifetime bans. These allegations prompted Hammam's resignation from all his positions in soccer effective immediately. Not too often will you see executive members being caught but this is a step in the right direction for soccer which has been embroiled in corruption over the past few years.

Soccer Corruption

We all know soccer has had quite a few problems with corruption over the last few years and the latest report will give us an idea just how big the problems are. A Swiss court has ruled that a document identifying soccer officials who took millions in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals will be released. FIFA will not appeal the ruling so obviously they have come to terms with the corruption the sport has recently seen and trying to move on. As I always say, it's always about money.

More Corruption in Tennis

Although no specified reason has been give at this point, tennis player Lucas Renard has been suspended for six months for violating the sport's anti-corruption rules and fined $5,000 according to the Tennis Integrity Unit. 19-year-old Renard is the 882nd-ranked player and usually plays on the lower level circuits where the lure of a quick buck might be stronger.

Olympic Boxing Fixed

The BBC reported two weeks ago that the International Amateur Boxing Association is investigating corruption in Olympic boxing.  Allegations have surfaced that Azerbaijan was to be guaranteed two gold medals in boxing at next year's Olympics after millions of dollars were paid for the fix.  Click here to read more.

Corruption Charges by FIFA

The governing body of soccer FIFA has had numerous claims of corruption over the last few years and finally taking a step forward to clean things up.  Three match officials from Bosnia-Herzegovina and three from Hungary have been banned for life from any soccer related activities at the national and international levels.  They were found guilty of unlawfully influencing match results and passive corruption.  This is a start but soccer has a long way to go at all levels of play.

Boxing Sham - Mares vs. Agbeko

Last Saturday Showtime boxing put up a horrible display of refereeing.  I just got home to see my twitter timeline blowing up with people screaming fixed.  New IBF bantamweight champion Abner Mares was for the most part handed the title by referee Russell Mora.  Abner landed low blow after low blow on his opponent Joseph Agbeko throughout the fight with barely any warnings and no penalties from referee Mora who was consistently out of place.  Even more surprising is the commission who sat cage side and did nothing.  This fight is being called one of the worst in boxing corruption history and I don't blame people for what we saw in this ridiculous refereed match.  Mora had to be in on the fix, completely biased or totally incompetent as a boxing referee.  Check out this article too for more on the fight.

Corruption in Soccer

We have been hearing it for awhile now and only time will bring out more evidence of corruption in Soccer.  When it reaches to the highest level you know the sport has some issues.  FIFA, the international governing body of football is deep in conflict over recent corruption claims over the World Cup selection process.  The latest allegations came from the U.K. after an inquiry into their failed bid for the 2018 World Cup.  Lord Triesman, former FA head has accused four member of the FIFA executive committee who votes for World Cup hosts of unethical and improper behavior.  These accusations include demands for money and honorary knighthoods.  Last fall two FIFA voters were suspended for similar actions when they tried to sell their World Cup votes.  The World Cup is big business and can potentially generate great sums of money for a host country.  Anything for the almighty dollar.  Not just the players and games but now the governing body is embroiled in sports corruption.

Playboy Explores the National Fix League (NFL)

Matthew Kredell of Playboy recently explored the world of gambling and the NFL or what some of us like to call the National Fix League. He explores both sides of the table, those who want NFL gambling legalized and those who don't (the NFL). The NFL claims they don't want their games legalized for betting because they maintain integrity and fear this would lead to corruption. They also claim in their history not one game has been fixed. Those are both complete laughers to me. They also mention something I have read quite a few times that they have contacts at the Vegas sports books so they can be notified of irregular betting patterns or possible corruption. I laugh at this too. I think these contacts feed them the information on where the money is so they can manipulate the outcomes of these games. NFL and casino owners have so much power and money they don't want to share it. Do you think these bigwigs would let that kind of money be left to chance? NFL teams and casinos should not have any communication what so ever if they want integrity. If NFL gambling were legalized they can't control all the winnings they rake in every year. Talk about greed! If it was legalized state deficits could be reduced, jobs would be created and the teams themselves could make more money than ever. Although this article is not too detailed it does bring up some good points. Check out this article and worse case scenario you have some Playboy bunnies to check out so you really can't go wrong.

Management Betting on Clients - Ted Forstmann

Chairman of the most powerful management company (IMG) in Tennis Ted Frostmann has been accused of betting millions of dollars on sports events including tennis events involving his own clients such as Roger Federer.  Forstmann admitted to betting $40,000 on Federer to beat Rafael Nadal at the 2007 French Open final which Federer ended up losing.  Both Federer and Nadal are IMG clients.  Forstmann states he did nothing wrong it was just bad judgement.  Tennis just introduced an anti-corruption program this year which forbids management and entourages from betting on tennis so will probably be cleared of any wrongdoing.  These insiders have the most current and inside information such as player injuries and therefore should not be allowed to bet regardless if there was an anti-corruption program or not.  Although he lost this bet who knows how many other matches he won on insider information on his very own tennis player clients?

Author Declan Hill Risks Life in Pursuit of Fixers in Football

Now that the World Cup is over did you notice any weird games?  Horrible referee's with phantom calls and overabundance of yellow and red cards, goals too easy to miss, fake injuries, etc.  Check out Declan Hill's book The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime.

The Fix is the most explosive story of sports corruption in a generation. Intriguing, riveting, and compelling, it tells the story of an investigative journalist who sets out to examine the world of match-fixing in professional soccer.


From the Introduction:

Understand how gambling fixers work to corrupt a soccer game and you will understand how they move into a basketball league, a cricket tournament, or a tennis match (all places, by the way, that criminal fixers have moved into). My views on soccer have changed. I still love the Saturday-morning game between amateurs: the camaraderie and the fresh smell of grass. But the professional game leaves me cold. I hope you will understand why after reading the book. I think you may never look at sport in the same way again.