Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI

After reading "The Fix Is In" by Brian Tuohy it might be time to pick up his follow up book "Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI". His first book had some great points and plenty of examples of "the fix" in sports. If you have ever doubted the outcomes of sporting events then both of these books are must reads. Definitely looking forward to what new information he has to offer. If anyone has already read this please leave me your thoughts in the comment section.

El Salvador Bans 14 Soccer Players for Life for Match Fixing

In a follow up to our feature about El Salvador investigating national Soccer players for match fixing they have now handed down lifetime bans on 14 current and former national team players with several others receiving suspensions from one to eighteen months while even more players are still being investigated according to multiple new sources including MLSSoccer.com.

Did Bobby Riggs Throw the Battle of the Sexes Tennis Match?

Forty years later multiple news sources including Yahoo Sports have found new information that the 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Bill Jean King was fixed. This historic match between 55-year-old tennis star and former champion Bobby Riggs and then 29-year-old phenom Bill Jean King would settle the bragging rights for the gender that won however it might have been a sham all along.

Riggs was known as a hustler in his early days often losing early matches on purpose to then come back and beat his opponents handily. As years went by he became associated with those that had Mafia ties. Because of his past and associations, London betting parlors didn't take action on this match.

Earlier that year Riggs already easily beat the number one female tennis player so how could he possibly lose to King, the current number two female tennis player? Odds makers installed Riggs as the favorite and according to most very few put any money on King. Of course the unthinkable happened and King defeated Riggs in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3.

Forty years later a golf pro in Tampa by the name of Hal Shaw has come forward with new information on this questionable match. Fearing retribution Shaw kept his secret until now and decided to finally set the record straight. According to Jay Busbee at Yahoo Sports, "Shaw recently told ESPN's Outside the Lines that he heard several notable Mafia figures, including Santo Trafficante Jr. and Carlos Marcello, discussing how Riggs would throw the match in order to pay off more than $100,000 in gambling debts."

Many questioned this match as it unfolded and maybe the truth has finally been revealed, it was fixed.    

El Salvador Soccer Match Fixing

A couple of days ago El Salvador became the latest country embroiled in a soccer match fixing controversy. The countries soccer federation has suspended 22 national team players as they investigate the matches listed below. Raids took place at the homes of 11 players that included seizures of cell phones, tablets, computers and more. Rumors are that prosecutors do have substantial evidence including money laundering. Federation president Carlos Mendez Cabezas stated that El Salvador will not play games until complaints of these matches are resolved.

• 2-1 loss to the United States in February 2010
• 1-0 loss to D.C. United in July 2010
• 5-0 loss to Mexico in July 2011
• 4-1 loss to Paraguay in February 2012

Nigerian Soccer Players and Officials Banned for Life

Several weeks ago two Nigerian amateur soccer teams were vying for one spot in the professional ranks. In the last game of the season, both The Plateau United Feeders and the Police Machine teams both playing at the same time needed to win and edge the other in goal differential to be promoted. Unfortunately players from both these teams, both their opponents and the officials allowed a free for all of goal scoring. The Police Machine ended up winning 67-0 and the Feeders topped that with a win of 79-0. Obviously suspicious and fixed, the Nigeria Football Federation banned players from all four teams and the match officials for life and the four clubs were suspended for ten years. Hope they enjoyed a lifetime of goals in that one day since they will never score another.

Lebanese Soccer Referees Received Sexual Services to fix a Match

Lebanese soccer referees Ali Sabbagh, Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb were recently charged with receiving free sexual services to fix an Asian Football Confederation Cup match in Singapore. These are high level officials who have worked games for the Asian Football Confederation, Lebanese top league and matches between national teams. Sounds like the referees received the red card this time for their violations.

UFC Legend Don Frye Alleges Brock Lesnar Fights were Fixed

UFC legend Don Frye alleges that both Randy Couture and Frank Mir threw their fights with former UFC champion Brock Lesnar. He claims the UFC hand fed Lesnar easy fights, pumped him up and then fixed his big fights. Lesnar is a wrestler with the WWE so he has that type of background and the UFC did make a boatload of money off him. Check out the second half of the video to hear Don's claims.

Widespread Match Fixing in Soccer

Europol recently announced their findings in a global betting scam run from Singapore that fixed hundreds of soccer matches back to 2008. Approximately 680 suspicious matches including World Cup and European championships qualifying games and the Champions League games were found to have turned up close to the equivalent of $11 million in profits and $2.7 million in bribes. Investigators found 425 participants from 15 countries including players, match officials, club officials and criminals were involved.

Italy's Latest Match-Fixing Scandal

Europe's latest soccer match-fixing scandal comes from Napoli of the Italian Serie A League. According to the Italian Football Federation Napoli was handed a two-point deduction, fined €70,000 and had three players banned over bets placed in 2010 on a match with Sampdoria which they lost 1-0. Defenders Gianluca Grava and Paola Cannavaro were banned from play for six months for their knowledge of the activity without reporting it while former goaltender Matteo Gianello was banned for 39 months after confessing to prosecutors that he attempted to fix the match.

Europa League Match-Fixing Investigation

July's Europa League qualifier soccer match between Albania's KF Tirana and Norwegian side Aalesund is currently under investigation by Europe's soccer governing body UEFA for possible match-fixing. After a 1-1 first leg, Aalesund blew out KF Tirana 5-0 on the second leg to advance to the next round on a 6-1 aggregate score. Seems like every month we hear of some sort of match-fixing in soccer. As soon as I hear more on this investigation I will post it in the comments.

Olympic Badminton Match-Fixing

The latest sporting scandal at the 2012 Summer Olympics involves the sport of badminton. Yes you heard that one correct. Four women's doubles teams have been disqualified for intentionally playing bad and losing matches in the knockout stage to gain more favorable quarterfinal matches. China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, South Korea's Ha jung-eun and Kim Min-jun and Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari have all been disqualified for these actions and face disciplinary action along with their coaches.

Match Fixing in Italy's Serie A Soccer League

Last week another Soccer match fixing scandal broke in Italy, this time affecting the top level Serie A league. 19 people including players, coaches and officials have been arrested and the training site of the national team was raided by police. Prosecutors stated that a Hungarian gang with funding from Singapore is likely the group behind recent match fixes at all levels in Italian soccer leagues and elsewhere.

Tennis Player Daniel Koellerer Banned for Life for Match-Fixing

Tennis player Daniel Koellerer lost his appeal yesterday and is now banned for life from tennis for match-fixing. Koellerer allegedly approached other tennis players from October 2009 to July 2010 to fix matches. The tennis governing bodies found enough evidence to uphold its original ruling and handed down the first lifetime ban in the sport.

2010 Soccer World Cup Warm-up Matches Controlled by Referees

FIFA reported earlier this week that the South African Football Association was duped into allowing an Asian match fixing syndicate managed by Wilson Perumal to appoint certain referees for certain warm-up international matches played in 2010 prior to the World Cup hosted by South Africa. Perumal has been convicted of match fixing charges in Finland since then. While matches and referees are investigated it just goes to show once again you never know where the fix is being controlled but almost certainly has to do with money. It appears all teams and countries show no evidence to manipulating games.

Soccer Match-Fixing Widespread in Eastern and Southern Europe

The BBC recently reported that match-fixing and other issues in Eastern and Southern Europe are more widespread than most believed. As reported by a survey by FIFPro, 23.6% of players are aware of match-fixing in their league and as high as 43.5% in Russia who will host the 2018 World Cup. They also stated 11.9% of players and as high as 30.3% in Greece have been approached to fix the results of games. The common link found was between players not being paid and fixing games. No matter the reason or level of play it always comes down to money as I always say.

Tennis Player David Savic Banned for Life

The 659th ranked player on the ATP tour has been banned for life for fixing tennis matches and also fined $100,000.  The Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program found David Savic guilty of three violations including contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of matches.

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.

Match Fixing Probe Postpones Turkish Super Cup

Turkish football teams Besiktas and Fenerbahce have been implicated in a match-fixing case.  This probe has led to the postponement of the Turkish Super Cup final between the two teams which was to take place tomorrow with no new date set.  Approximately 30 people have been charged including the deputy chairman and coach of Besiktas and the president of league champ Fenerbahce.  The probe alleges 19 games were fixed.

Tennis Player Banner for Life

385th ranked tennis player Daniel Koellerer has been banned for life from the sport for match-fixing.  The Tennis Integrity Unit confirmed this information earlier this week making Koellerer the first player ever banned for life.  As I always say it's all about the money.  Everyone has a price but Daniel paid a big one here.

More Crooked Soccer Officials

Disciplinary actions have begun against six soccer game officials per FIFA.  This latest action stems from a match-fixing probe into two exhibition games held in Turkey on February 9th.  Exhibition games too, where does it stop?