In the previous post I wrote about the indictment of the members of an illegal betting syndicate that operated from Maribor, a city in northeast Slovenia. The event itself and the Slovenian media coverage surrounding it deserve some commentary.
First, it is necessary to distinguish between sports betting and match-fixing. To bet, or to gamble, means risking money or anything of value on the outcome of something involving chance, such as the result of a football match. To fix a match means to determine the outcome of a game in advance. Sports betting is legal in many countries including Slovenia; match-fixing is not.
Gambling and bookmaking is legal in Slovenia, but bookmakers wishing to organize betting must obtain a state license. Licensing is regulated by the Gaming Act (Zakon o igrah na srečo). The act stipulates that the license fee and 5% of the profit generated by (legitimate) bookmakers and gambling providers are devoted to the financing of disability, humanitarian, and sports organizations. Slovenian bookmakers and gambling providers also have to pay further taxes.
According to Slovenian law, illegal bookmaking and the organization of illegal betting syndicates is a breach of the Criminal Code and thus a felony. In turn, placing bets with illegal bookmakers is not a crime. In this particular case, it likely will not even be considered a misdemeanor as taxes on winnings have to be paid directly by gambling providers, rather than those who win the bets. In Slovenia, the bookmaker has to pay the taxing authority a 17.65% surplus on individual winnings; earnings of up to €300 are exempt from taxation.
Thus far, this entire case is about illegal betting, not match-fixing. None of the individuals involved have been accused of fixing the outcome of any match.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that Drago Kos, a former FIFA referee and former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in Slovenia, drew attention to the fact that the prosecution of corruption in sport has been canceled from the Criminal Code in 2008. In an interview to Ekipa a sports newspaper, he said that the removal acknowledged as a mistake (presumably by the authors of the bill) but has not been corrected yet. Thus, in order to prosecute fixers, prosecutors would actually need to file a fraud or bribery case.
A potential ground-breaking aspect of the story is the sheer realization that Slovenia is not immune to criminal activity in sport. Many people—including Igor Lukšič, the former Minister of Education and Sport—argue that due to its small size, this country is virtually immune to doping, match-fixing and other shady aspects of sport. In an interview to the Slovenian Press Agency in October 2010, Mr. Lukšič said that “our [i.e., Slovenian] leagues of course are not as strong, there is not that much money circulating and so the problem [of match-fixing] is not as big as elsewhere.” This argumentum ad populum seems to be perpetuated by sports officials and journalists, as well. The latter are especially passive and to the best of my knowledge, the Slovenian Press Agency interview with the country’s foremost sports official which rose this and other interesting points, was not picked up by a single Slovenian media outlet.
Slovenian sports media seem to focus on sports competitions and largely disregard topics in sport governance. Insight into this topic will be provided by the International Sports Press Survey, a project coordinated by the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and Play the Game I am involved in. Until detailed results of the study are published, I believe the Slovenian sports media’s general attitude to topics that go beyond predictions and post-game analyses is well synthesized in the lead paragraph to Ekipa’s first story on the illegal betting syndicate. It read that the syndicate had become a public secret and that police’s apparent passiveness caused “quite some outrage” in the author(s); and the prosecutors’ latest actions were commented with a mere: “Finally!”
Not all sports journalists need graduating from Oxford, nor filming documentaries for the BBC; yet it would be good if they became familiar with the concept of investigative journalism, or at least with that of critical distance, in addition to that of cheerleading. Modern sport is unfortunately not all fun and games and sports journalism ought to report on less flattering aspects, as well.
About Simon Ličen
Simon Ličen is a researcher, lecturer and author in sport, media and communication.
Sports woes and the Slovenian attitude to them
In the previous post I wrote about the indictment of the members of an illegal betting syndicate that operated from Maribor, a city in northeast Slovenia. The event itself and the Slovenian media coverage surrounding it deserve some commentary.
First, it is necessary to distinguish between sports betting and match-fixing. To bet, or to gamble, means risking money or anything of value on the outcome of something involving chance, such as the result of a football match. To fix a match means to determine the outcome of a game in advance. Sports betting is legal in many countries including Slovenia; match-fixing is not.
Gambling and bookmaking is legal in Slovenia, but bookmakers wishing to organize betting must obtain a state license. Licensing is regulated by the Gaming Act (Zakon o igrah na srečo). The act stipulates that the license fee and 5% of the profit generated by (legitimate) bookmakers and gambling providers are devoted to the financing of disability, humanitarian, and sports organizations. Slovenian bookmakers and gambling providers also have to pay further taxes.
According to Slovenian law, illegal bookmaking and the organization of illegal betting syndicates is a breach of the Criminal Code and thus a felony. In turn, placing bets with illegal bookmakers is not a crime. In this particular case, it likely will not even be considered a misdemeanor as taxes on winnings have to be paid directly by gambling providers, rather than those who win the bets. In Slovenia, the bookmaker has to pay the taxing authority a 17.65% surplus on individual winnings; earnings of up to €300 are exempt from taxation.
Thus far, this entire case is about illegal betting, not match-fixing. None of the individuals involved have been accused of fixing the outcome of any match.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that Drago Kos, a former FIFA referee and former Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in Slovenia, drew attention to the fact that the prosecution of corruption in sport has been canceled from the Criminal Code in 2008. In an interview to Ekipa a sports newspaper, he said that the removal acknowledged as a mistake (presumably by the authors of the bill) but has not been corrected yet. Thus, in order to prosecute fixers, prosecutors would actually need to file a fraud or bribery case.
A potential ground-breaking aspect of the story is the sheer realization that Slovenia is not immune to criminal activity in sport. Many people—including Igor Lukšič, the former Minister of Education and Sport—argue that due to its small size, this country is virtually immune to doping, match-fixing and other shady aspects of sport. In an interview to the Slovenian Press Agency in October 2010, Mr. Lukšič said that “our [i.e., Slovenian] leagues of course are not as strong, there is not that much money circulating and so the problem [of match-fixing] is not as big as elsewhere.” This argumentum ad populum seems to be perpetuated by sports officials and journalists, as well. The latter are especially passive and to the best of my knowledge, the Slovenian Press Agency interview with the country’s foremost sports official which rose this and other interesting points, was not picked up by a single Slovenian media outlet.
Slovenian sports media seem to focus on sports competitions and largely disregard topics in sport governance. Insight into this topic will be provided by the International Sports Press Survey, a project coordinated by the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and Play the Game I am involved in. Until detailed results of the study are published, I believe the Slovenian sports media’s general attitude to topics that go beyond predictions and post-game analyses is well synthesized in the lead paragraph to Ekipa’s first story on the illegal betting syndicate. It read that the syndicate had become a public secret and that police’s apparent passiveness caused “quite some outrage” in the author(s); and the prosecutors’ latest actions were commented with a mere: “Finally!”
Not all sports journalists need graduating from Oxford, nor filming documentaries for the BBC; yet it would be good if they became familiar with the concept of investigative journalism, or at least with that of critical distance, in addition to that of cheerleading. Modern sport is unfortunately not all fun and games and sports journalism ought to report on less flattering aspects, as well.
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About Simon Ličen
Simon Ličen is a researcher, lecturer and author in sport, media and communication.