It is in the dog days of summer that the dirty deeds get done. A good habit for European and North American investigative journalists is to check government press releases at the beginning of the July 1st/4th weekend and the Friday before the Christmas Holidays. For it is then, when most people are rushing out … Continue reading The Sporting Scandals of the Season
Tag Archives: Greece
Suspicious Games in the Champions League & the Great Olympic Scandal
Interesting week in international sports. Lets start with the Champions League where once again we have a ‘choke-point’ where games are regularly fixed. Here is the scenario. You are a UEFA investigator. The rest of the world thinks that you have unlimited resources and money coming out of your elbows. You know that if you’re … Continue reading Suspicious Games in the Champions League & the Great Olympic Scandal
The Greatest Case of Commercial Blindness in the History of Sports Integrity
There are all kinds of examples of inappropriate blindness. There was Captain Smith of the SS Titanic not seeing the iceberg. There was Admiral Nelson putting the telescope to his eye patch not to see the signal to retreat. There was Johnny Papalia the mafia thug who beat up the head of Toronto’s illegal gambling … Continue reading The Greatest Case of Commercial Blindness in the History of Sports Integrity
2 Farces, Turkish Nightmare & Infantino’s Blatter-Lite FIFA
It was not a good week for sport. The Turkish nightmare continues. There are strange doings, as usual, in Singapore and Qatar. However, the big story is that Gianni Infantino’s FIFA has now become a Blatter-Lite FIFA: the same organisation, only with better table manners for the media. The key issue is the resignation … Continue reading 2 Farces, Turkish Nightmare & Infantino’s Blatter-Lite FIFA
It’s Not a Fix: Leicester City’s Dream Season
Returning from three-weeks away to an inbox of e-mails from around the world asking, ‘is the whole thing is a fix?’. Is Leicester City’s triumphant surge simply a case of bunged envelopes, compliant defenders and compromised games? The notes have poured in from across the world. Readers from New Zealand to South Africa to England … Continue reading It’s Not a Fix: Leicester City’s Dream Season
The ‘Sports’ Farce in Washington
To my American colleagues who went to the seminar on ‘sports integrity’ at the National Press Club on June 24th, You saw a presentation by a man with little credibility in sports integrity and two other men who have failed. You attended a presentation sponsored by the Qatari sports establishment. This is a group that … Continue reading The ‘Sports’ Farce in Washington
Two Crises, One Continent
It was a bizarre accident that started the investigation. On a road in northern Italy a driver fell asleep. No big deal. Except the driver was a soccer player from the local team who could not stay awake, no matter how hard he tried. When the police tested him, they discovered he was not suffering … Continue reading Two Crises, One Continent
