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Further evidence has come to light in recent weeks which shows that relying upon state governments to regulate their gambling industries does not protect consumers or sports from infiltration by organised criminal syndicates, thought to be operating from China
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Canadian journalist Declan Hill reported that through conversations with insiders from the Asian gambling industry, he had learned of bookmakers boasting that a number of matches had been ‘sold’ in the Netherlands, with Chinese gangs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam bribing multiple players in first division clubs to fix the outcome of matches.

Last month, German authorities reported that they had found evidence of fraud and manipulation in 200 European football games, including matches in the Champions League and Europa League. Arrests were made in nine countries but the Netherlands was not included in this number.

Since the scale of corruption in the Netherlands was exposed, the Dutch football association has announced an impending investigation into allegations of corruption in a number of first division matches. A collaborative operation between the police and public prosecutor’s office hopes to combat the proliferation of bribery in professional football. However, the case highlights the dangers of attacking the symptom of a problem, rather than the cause.

Corruption has been introduced to European football as a result of black market betting, organised by Chinese criminal syndicates. Such murky markets are subject to no regulation, allowing them to corrupt players, trainers and referees involved in the sport, whilst appealing directly to consumers denied the opportunity to gamble through legitimate operators.

Despite the European court’s verdict in September that state run monopolies offer more opportunities to insure against corruption, these latest findings in Holland tell a different story, leading to fears that if allowed to expand further, corruption will have detrimental consequences for European football, as has been the case in China.

Corruption is prevalent in Chinese football, to the extent that it has been accused of killing interest in the sport. According to Yang Ming, an official at the state press agency Xinhua and author of Black Whistles, a report on the impact of the Chinese gambling industry on football, “It is a cancer that has completely destroyed the Chinese football competition and it is now spreading to Europe…everything is fixed from the first to the last minute”.

His view is compounded by the decline of registered football players in China, from a peak of 650,000 to an estimated 50,000 over the next fifteen years.

If citizens are prevented from accessing a competitive, legitimate gambling market, their willingness to resort to illegal and unregulated alternatives is all too clear. Without a major reconsideration of the benefits of a regulated competitive industry, the European Union could find itself smothering football.

The Right2bet campaign continues its pursuit of an open gambling market across the EU.
About Right2bet:- Right2bet is an EU-wide campaign asking people to petition for the right to choose their online betting provider, irrespective of which Member State they operate from. Everyone in the EU should have the right to choose.- Right2bet stands for freedom of choice and is against the injustice of some current European laws. Sign the petition today at www.right2bet.net