Last Tuesday (June, 2) evening I had the pleasure to attend a seminar on match-fixing. The event was organized by the Sport Business Centre at the University of Birkbeck (London) and has dealt with various elements about the problem of match-fixing discussing possible solutions. The seminar was led by Dr Andy Harvey (Birkbeck Sport Business Centre), Tony Higgins (Vice-President of FIFPro, European section) and legal and sports consultant Kevin Carpenter who have masterly explained and delineated the situation of match-fixing at the moment. Lack of jurisdiction, economical problems that lead footballers to become victims of criminal organisation forcing them to fix games and, the increasing lack of sporting values are those elements that have resulted in numerous scandals both in Italy and in other many countries of the world.
The topic that has particularly interested me was the one presented by Dr Andy Harvey who accurately described the tragic phenomenon of match-fixing from the footballers’ point of view. His piece of research (MORE HERE: http://www.sportbusinesscentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Dont-Fix-It-Protect-Our-Game-A-Good-Practice-Guide-for-Professional-Football-Players-Associations-to-tackle-match-fixing-in-football.pdf) has examined causes and potential solutions to this enormous problem that has displayed shameful data on the level of corruption and match-fixing. During his speech, Dr Harvey has particularly underlined the need of educational campaigns that are aimed to prevent the spread of corruption and sporting fraud, especially amongst the younger.
At the end of the seminar, I asked a question by presenting the case of Simone Farina who in 2011 reported the attempt of fixing a football game. Thanks to his action 17 people were arrested. However, the story of Simone Farina was soon forgotten by Italian football. In fact, after the report made by Simone Farina who refused to get €200,000 (£145,000) to fix Cesena-Gubbio, the former Roma Academy left back was forced to retirement at the age of only 32. Why has this happened? Basically due to the fact that none was keen on offering him a new contract after he uncovered what the system has been trying to hide for many years. Although he was the subject of many positive events such as the being selected in one of the national football team pre-match period held in Coverciano with Gli Azzurri, the case of Simone Farina demonstrated how who dares to expose the truth tend to become completely forgotten and isolated after a while. Fortunately, someone has given Farina the possibility to remain in the world of football and teach young players the real values of football that go beyond technical and tactical abilities. He is now a community coach at Aston Villa and his main duty is to pass positive and fair messages about the game onto the next generation of players.
This is the story of a forgotten hero who has been left out of a football world that does not accept people who believe in the right principles of sport. Football is a sport that is living a very dramatic moment. It is a game – the beautiful game – that has presented episodes of corruption from the top managerial positions to the bottom sporting leagues. It is a sport that needs more Simone Farina and less corrupted.
The discussion has strongly highlighted that people from players’ unions and the national association were felt as the right ones to deliver education courses for players on the dangers of match fixing. However, the story of Farina has revealed how this endemic and alarming phenomenon is difficult to be eradicated if no actions are taken by national football associations.
With this article, I would like to thank the speakers who took part in the discussion at the yesterday’s seminar hoping that our football federations will take serious measures to tackle match-fixing. Also, it is important that higher academic research output on the field is produced as well as domestic platforms that are able to legislate on the specific issues. More actions are needed in order to spread the knowledge on match-fixing and how it can be prevented. I conclude saying that we must educate new generations of players in order to promote sport integrity and values such as honesty.
