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.

FBI Investigating Point Shaving at Auburn

News broke last week that the FBI has been investigating point shaving at Auburn University. Specifically the FBI has been investigating point guard Varez Ward with special attention to Auburn's 68-50 loss to Alabama on February 7th and a 56-53 loss at Arkansas on January 25th. As soon as Auburn officials learned of the information they reported it to the FBI, NCAA and the Southeastern Conference. Generally point shaving schemes involve more than one player so I will definitely be monitoring this case to see if anything else is discovered from this investigation.

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.

Jimmie Johnson's Car Fails Daytona 500 Opening Day Inspection

A week prior to the big day tomorrow one of the biggest names in Nascar failed his opening day car inspection for the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson's car failed pre-race inspection for C-pillars that were found to be out of spec and accordingly confiscated. Car body violations are common at times but this one made news since it came from one of the biggest names in the sport prior to Nascar's biggest race of the year. Who doesn't want to win this race and some will do whatever it takes.

Another Tour de France Champion Banned for Doping

Jan Ullrich, a former Tour de France champion has been banned from cycling for two years for doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced the findings on February 9th and stated he was part of the doping program by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes that was revealed in 2006. How many former champions will be caught doping? This list keeps getting longer and sure we will see many more cyclists to come.

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.

Super Fix Bowl

Well tomorrow is the big day and something I will rant on every year. The Super Bowl, the biggest single betting game of the year! The one game so big that sharps can't even move the line because of the amount of action on it. I have read that some believe this could be the highest bet game beating the $94 million on Super Bowl XL which of course doesn't include offshore books and your local bookies. My yearly statistic, the Las Vegas sports books have only lost minimal amounts in two of the last twenty one Super Bowl's. One interesting thing to note though is the last loss came in 2008 when the Giants upset the Patriots, the same two teams playing this year. If it's not fixed with that amount of action, how is that possible?

Sun Belt Officials Can't Count

Missed this one a few weeks ago in college basketball but thought it was definitely of interest. Host Western Kentucky lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 72-70 on January 5th. One website showed about 60% of the public was backing Western Kentucky and here is where it gets interesting. With second left in the game Louisiana-Lafayette made the winning layup but they did it with six players on the floor. Yes, they had one too many players on the floor and not one referee caught this. I understand mistakes happen but this is at the college level and you have multiple referee's so how would this possibly be missed? My guess, the fix was in. The majority of action was on Western Kentucky as a 1 1/2 point home dog and what do you know Louisiana-Lafayette wins by two to cover the spread while using six players. Something stinks here and have heard the referee's from the Sun Belt conference are expected to be suspended.

Another Blown Call at UFC 142

Usually we see the uneducated boxing scorers fix the outcomes of MMA decisions but this time we blame the referee for the blown call at UFC 142 last weekend in Brazil. Fighter Erick Silva made the most of his UFC debut by throwing a nice knee followed by some ground and pound on opponent Carlo Prater for an early referee stoppage in round one. When the official decision was announced that Silva was disqualified by referee Mario Yamasaki the crowd erupted in anger. Yamasaki DQ'd Silva for illegal blows to the back of the head. Shortly after announcer Joe Rogan went through the replay and strike after strike noted the each hit was legal. UFC president Dana White also criticized the call and continues to urge the commissions to start using instant replay before making these ridiculous errors in judgement and scoring or as we like to say, fixes! Silva was fighting in his home country with a raucous crowd behind him and also a heavy favorite at the sports books, go figure.

MMA Fighter Cris Cyborg Santos Tests Positive for Steroids

Last week news broke that Strikeforce women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg Santos tested positive for stanozolol metabolites. This had to be a question for quite some time as Cyborg is freakishly strong, ripped physique and dominates anyone who gets in the cage with her. As of now she has been suspended for one year, fined $2,500 and stripped of her championship belt which may also see the dissolution of the weight class at Strikeforce.

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.

Sports Betting - Is It Fixed?

Thanks to the guys at The Fix Is In we stumbled upon this video of the guys from Pregame.com discussing if sports are fixed.  Not too in depth with evidence but a good listen. In agreement with what they are saying that not every game is fixed and most of the time you will not know when they are but they make a point that is does happen whether you believe it or not.

Saints Whistle Blowing to Victory

The Tennessee Titans accused the New Orleans Saints of blowing a whistle on the sideline during a critical drive in the game between the two teams on December 11th according to Yardbarker.  The Titans claim to have video evidence along with multiple offensive lineman who can attest to the whistle blowing.  Titans players were confused by the distraction upon hearing the whistle as Saints players did not stop.  This was believed to have occurred during the second to last drive in which the Titans were trying to rally from behind but ultimately lost 22-17.  A field goal would have change the outcome for bettors on the spread which had the Saints favored by 3.5 and a touchdown would have change the spread and moneyline outcomes.