Match-fixing before the CAS – issues and challenges faced by the defense when dealing with sports corruption
This article -originally published in the German magazine SpoPrax- aims to provide a practical insight into the challenges faced by lawyers defending individuals accused of match fixing in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.
Corruption in sports holds practices that undermine the integrity of sporting competitions. Match-fixing is not a new phenomenon and encounters its definition in the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Manipulation of Sport Competitions (also known as Macolin Convention): “Intentional arrangement, act or omission aimed at an improper alteration of the result or the course of a sports competition in order to remove all or part of the unpredictable nature of the aforementioned sports competition with a view to obtaining an undue advantage for oneself or for the other.”
Historical evidence suggests that match-fixing occurred even in ancient times: the first known bribery is an alleged contract dated A.D. 267 to fi x a wrestling match in Egypt. The agreement established that one of the competitors had to “fall three times and yield” and in exchange he would receive “three thousand eight hundred drachmas of silver of old coinage”.
Click here for the full article, originally published in the German magazine SpoPrax
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