Match-fixing: How it works, why it’s not reported

Tony Attwood
There are two prime ways in which top football matches are fixed.
One is the gambling model where people bribe players or refs to fix a game in a particular way, and bet on the outcome.
The other is a much more complex system and is often known as Calciopoli after the Italian match-fixing scandal of 2006.
In this referees, assistants, and broadcasting company execs are bribed to influence a series of matches involving certain clubs.
In this scenario the owner of Club C might say to pliable refs and others, “do what you can to help us, and also just do what you can to knock back Clubs A and M”.
The refs are therefore not under instruction to get a certain score or winner, but simply under instruction to help matters along.
If the outcome of a game is clearly going against what their masters wish, they are not expected to try and change it.
But edging the 1-1 draw into a 2-1 victory for the “right” side via a very dodgy penalty is what they are after.
The broadcasters are then involved, so that the more dodgy decisions by the refs are not commented upon and/or not shown.
The problem with Calciopoli is that it is insidious.
Although an analysis of referee decisions over time gives a clear clue as to what is going on, it is hard to prove (and was only proven by phone tapping in Italy).
In earlier articles that I’ve written under the “Football Betrayed” headline, I’ve suggested that if we really want to know what is going on, we should always ask “why?” And in this case the question is “why does match fixing for gambling purposes get a modest coverage in the press, while match fixing of the Calciopoli variety never gets mentioned at all?”
We can also see why the broadcasters and Press might not want to let a discussion on match-fixing in the Calciopoli manner start.
They invest hugely in the right to do everything from print fixture lists (yes, you cannot print them without paying for them) through to the right to show matches on TV.
Backing this up is the advertising by gambling organisations which surrounds most matches. – Untold Arsenal.