Duemmler 1

Lukas Duemmler
Professor Caruso
UWRT 1103-037
6 October 2015
Bribery and Conspiracy in Sports
Sports have been around since the start of history and will continue to thrive until the
world ends. According to LawInfo, bribery is defined as causing, attempting, or conspiring to
influence with the intent to secure a desired result (par. 3). Most likely, bribery and conspiracy
in sports has been present in sports for a while, but we first see it develop and get popular
starting in the 20th century. With many different sports in different countries, there is no way all
cases are being investigated. Does this mean that bribery and conspiracy in sports is being
neglected or only brought to attention if it makes a big difference? Also, what is the outcome of
these cases? People often talk about rumors of cheating and conspiracy in sports but in reality, it
is often neglected.
Just about all sports have had some issue with bribery or cheating: tennis, basketball,
soccer, cricket, baseball, football, and even snooker. There are different ways to go about it;
some teams lose the game purposefully to secure a better playoff position, another way is to
bribe players or officials to fix a game for a betting outcome. (Asis par.2) While these cases are
often dismissed to insufficient evidence, the question arises as to what the consequence for
bribery is. As defined in the LawInfo article, Federal law for sports bribery carries a maximum
term of five years in federal prison and a fine, which is based upon the amount of money
involved and any damages resulting from the bribe(par.6). However, one of the biggest scandals
in sports history suggests another consequence to be considered. In the 1919 World Series when

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the highly favored Chicago White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds by throwing the game, there
had been talk about White Sox players accepting money to lose. Months after the loss, several
White Sox players were forbidden from the sport for the rest of their lives for intentionally losing
the championship game for gambling purposes. These players were banned from the sport
outside of the court of law by baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, because of
mysterious circumstances where most of the paper work vanished (Andrews). As stated earlier,
bribery is found in a lot of sports, especially soccer. In recent years, FIFA has been under
scrutiny for conspiracy and match-fixing. However, in contrary to the World Series scandal, the
people suspected to be involved in match-fixing in soccer is mostly team officials and referees.
FIFA urged its referees to report suspicious activities in a memo. As seen in the memo, FIFA
believes that that referees and assistant referees are the primary target of match-fixers
(Norman-Culp, sec. 67). Their claim is backed up in a FIFA report in December finding that
tainted referees also are believed to be at the heart of one or more games involving [World Cup]
South Africa in 2010 (Norman-Culp, sec 71). In two friendly matches in Turkey, seven goals
were scored that all came from penalty kicks. In soccer, this is not a very popular occurrence
making the referees seem suspicious. FIFA banned the six eastern European officials involved
in those games for life (Norman-Culp, sec. 73).
While college athletics is becoming a bigger influence in todays society, there are rules
coaches and players must follow. Offer (ing) financial inducements to a student-athlete may be
subject to criminal and civil penalties (USLegal par.4). The thing about bribery, especially in
collegiate level sports, is that it takes away from the fun and surprise of the outcome of an event.
Even worse, it takes away from the skill and pos (es) a significant threat to the integrity of sport
world-wide (Hume par.7). Both professional and college athletes have an enormous impact on

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little kids and teenagers, so a popular concern is if the consequences are different among the
different level of sports. To answer this question, a Boston College basketball team member,
Rick Kuhn, was found guilty and sentenced to jail for game fixing (USLegal par.11), the same
thing happened to Dewey William and Dion Lee, both members of the Northwestern basketball
team, who excepted money to lose games. Most cases of bribery and conspiracy, in both
collegiate and professional level sports, belong to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The
FBI has a special program that focuses on the integrity of sporting events among professional
and college teams. In a 2009 investigation dubbed Operation Hook Shot, eight people gathered
from the University of Sand Diego basketball team and the bookmakers were convicted and
sentenced to federal prison terms for taking part in a sports bribery conspiracy (FBI par. 1). This
case, similarly to most of the FBIs sports bribery cases, started as an organized crime
investigation. The Bureau was looking into the activities of a criminal enterprise operating in
the San Diego area that was selling drugs and also operating an illegal online gambling
business (FBI par. 2). Players, and an ex-assistant coach were being paid to throw a handful of
games during the season so the bookers could win bets they had placed.
With bribery/match-fixing and conspiracy being present in many sports: soccer, football,
basketball, cricket, and many more it is hard for many of these cases to be investigated by the
FBI. On top of professional sports, collegiate sports are also starting to be a huge betting ring and
a place for gamblers to pay athletes. Many games that are under suspicion of match-fixing and
bribery pose a significant threat to the integrity of sports world wide among the different levels.
This may make its seem as though the sports officials and the law are neglecting these games,
while all the while they just do not have sufficient evidence to convict these athletes and
gamblers.

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Works Cited Page

Andrews, Evan. "The Black Sox Baseball Scandal, 95 Years Ago." History.com. A&E
Television Networks, 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
Asis, Adrian. "Top 10 Alleged Match-Fixing/Bribery Scandals in Sports History."TheRichest.
N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
"Crime in College Hoops." FBI. FBI, 20 May 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
Hume, Chris. "Match-Fixing and Illegal Sports Betting." Clearinghouse for Sport. N.p., n.d.
Web. 28 Sept. 2015.
Norman-Culp, Sheila. "Soccer Match-Fixing Scandal: A Look At How Organized Crime
Corrupts The 'Beautiful Game'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Feb.
2013. Web. 03 Oct. 2015.
"Sports Bribery Law and Legal Resources." Law Info. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 27 Sept.
2015.
"Sports Bribery Program." FBI. FBI, 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
"Sports Crimes." Sports Law Sports Crimes Comments. USLegal, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.