UEFA-and-Europol-hold-the-first-international-conference-on-corruption-and-soccer-fraud.jpg

The European Union’s law enforcement agency (Europol) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) met this Tuesday, 26, for the first time. As such, key stakeholders in identifying new ways to investigate debated how to cooperate in cases related to sports corruption and match fraud.

A total of 109 officials from police forces, judicial authorities and national football associations from 49 countries attended the joint Europol-UEFA conference at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Throughout the day, expert panels analyzed the most pressing current and future threats to protecting the integrity of football and fighting organized crime groups. They discussed topics such as operational collaboration between law enforcement agencies and football integrity officials, and early detection of suspicious betting patterns.

20220426_Europol-UEFA conference-22.jpg

Prevention was also high on the agenda, with discussions focusing on newly adopted new legal frameworks and existing tools designed to prevent game fixation and facilitate information sharing.

Burkhard Mühl, Head of Europol’s European Economic and Financial Crime Center (EFECC), commented: “Organized crime quickly realized that many football clubs were suffering financially as a result of COVID-19. And where there is less money, players, coaches , club officials and even executives are increasingly vulnerable to being corrupted by fraudulent behavior”.

“With the huge profits associated with ‘making the unpredictable predictable’, we are seeing more and more suspicious cases. Cooperation between police and sports organizations is vital not only to detect and investigate suspected corruption in football, but also to stop such corruption. fraudulent activities before they can even begin,” added Mühl.

20220426_Europol-UEFA conference-19.jpg
Burkhard Mühl, head of Europol’s European Economic and Financial Crime Center

Meanwhile, UEFA’s director of integrity and regulation, Angelo Rigopoulos, noted: “This first joint Europol-UEFA international conference is an important step forward in the fight against match-fixing and sends a strong signal that both organizations are here to gather their strength and do their best to minimize this phenomenon”.

Vincent Ven, head of UEFA’s Anti-Match-Fixing, added: “Today, more than ever, European football and the law enforcement sector need to stand together and offer their mutual support in trying to protect our popular sport against this scourge, cooperating in joint activities, implementing common projects and exchanging information in the area of ​​gaming fraud”.

20220426_Europol-UEFA conference-24.jpg
Vincent Ven, head of UEFA Anti-Match-Fixing

Experts at Europol’s European Economic and Financial Crimes Center work with law enforcement authorities across the European Union to identify links between suspicious matches and suspects, and to uncover the organized crime groups orchestrating these multi-million anti-sport frauds.

UEFA’s team of experts works with education, intelligence, investigation and cooperation with its network of 55 integrity officers, as well as key stakeholders and partners, with a special emphasis on preventing any issues related to gaming and betting irregularities.