November 5 – UEFA has renewed its memorandum of understanding with law enforcement agency Europol which is focussed on battling Europe’s organised crime gangs behind match-fixing and other money laundering activity through football.
The new agreement embraces a broader scope of cooperation around how to respond to the new and developing organised crime-related challenges. Key planks of the MoU are the exchange of information and the provision of expertise in the areas of major football events, sports corruption, match-fixing and money laundering.
The agreement also covers racism, xenophobia and violent extremism as well as pirate streaming of audio-visual content, “where related to serious or organised crime affecting two or more EU Member States”.
With the news in the past two weeks of the referee betting scandal in Turkey (371 referees hold betting accounts with one or more of six different betting companies, while 152 of the referees having bet directly on football matches), the MoU renewal comes as a reminder at the right time of UEFA’s zero-tolerance policy towards match-fixing and other forms of serious and organised crime.
The memorandum was signed at UEFA headquarters in Nyon by the president of UEFA Aleksander Čeferin and the executive director of Europol Catherine De Bolle.
“As the governing authority for European football we collaborate closely with European institutions and agencies, including Europol, to safeguard the integrity, credibility and long-term sustainability of the game at every level. Through our partnership with Europol, we remain committed to enhancing our coordinated actions to prevent and tackle the criminal exploitation of our sport,” said Čeferin.
Areas of co-operation include detection of suspicious transactions and activities around transfers of players, investment in clubs, trading of football-related financial assets, sports betting and the awarding and organising of sports competitions. All can or have been used by criminal gangs to launder money from other criminal activity.
Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle said: “Football provides a universal language that transcends borders, fostering a shared passion among diverse groups of people. At the same time, we have to note the criminal abuse of this wonderful sport: as with every major societal movement, football is vulnerable to criminal exploitation. Europol stands ready to support UEFA and all competent national authorities in safeguarding the integrity of this beautiful game.”
UEFA is supporting the implementation of new EU anti-money laundering regulations in football.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1762395154labto1762395154ofdlr1762395154owedi1762395154sni@n1762395154osloh1762395154cin.l1762395154uap1762395154
Source link
Add Comment