Match Fixing The Big Mafia Business: Unveiling the Dark Secrets

Match fixing, a term that has haunted the world of sports for decades, is much more than a mere conspiracy theory. Behind the glamorous facade and the excitement of our favorite games, a sinister underworld of match fixing operations thrives. It's an intricate web of corruption, greed, and power that stretches across borders, involving powerful organizations and criminal elements, making it one of the biggest mafia businesses in the world.

The Anatomy of Match Fixing

When we watch a game, we expect fair play, sportsmanship, and intense competition. However, what most fans are unaware of is the dark world that lurks behind the scenes. Match fixing involves manipulating the outcome of a match in order to secure huge financial gains for those involved, be it players, coaches, or influential figures in the sporting industry.

To understand how match fixing works, we need to dissect the process from start to finish:

MATCH FIXING: The Big Mafia Business

by Doug Morneau(Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1395 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	122 pages

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1. Planning and Recruitment

Match fixers identify vulnerable targets who can be easily influenced, taking advantage of their financial struggles or personal circumstances. These targets can range from players, coaches, or even referees, all of whom have the power to influence the outcome of a game.

2. Manipulation and Coercion

Once the target is identified, the fixers employ a myriad of tactics to manipulate them. It can involve bribes, threats, or blackmail. In some cases, players are also subjected to physical violence to ensure compliance.

3. Execution of the Fixing Process

During the actual game, the fixers meticulously execute their plan. This can involve a variety of methods such as deliberate mistakes, missed shots, or even an unexpected injury to key players, all aimed at swaying the outcome of the match.

4. Payout and Profits

Upon the successful execution of the fix, the match fixers reap enormous financial benefits. Huge sums of money are exchanged, often through complex networks of intermediaries and offshore bank accounts, making it difficult to trace the origins of the funds.

The Mafia Connection

The thriving match fixing industry has deep-rooted ties with organized crime syndicates. These powerful mafia groups see match fixing as an incredibly lucrative way to expand their operations and launder money.

Match fixing offers a win-win situation for both the criminal organizations and the corrupt individuals within the sporting world. With millions of dollars at stake, the mafia's involvement ensures the necessary financial backing and protection for those involved in the fixings.

Moreover, the mafia's extensive network of contacts and resources allows them to further control the narrative surrounding match fixing. This involves spreading misinformation, bribery of law enforcement officials, and even intimidation of potential whistleblowers.

The Global Reach of Match Fixing

While match fixing is often associated with high-profile sports such as football and cricket, its influence spans far beyond these popular games. From tennis to basketball, from esports to horse racing, no sport is immune to the clutches of match fixing.

Furthermore, match fixers operate in various countries, taking advantage of the lack of stringent regulations and weak monitoring mechanisms. Asia, in particular, has been a hotbed for match fixing activities due to its massive gambling markets and the region's love for sports.

Tackling the Menace of Match Fixing

The fight against match fixing requires a multi-faceted approach involving collaboration between sporting authorities, law enforcement agencies, and international organizations.

The first step towards combating match fixing is raising awareness among players, coaches, and officials about the severity and consequences of their involvement. Education programs, strict codes of conduct, and regular integrity training can play a crucial role in preventing vulnerable individuals from falling into the clutches of match fixers.

Secondly, technological advancements can help in detecting suspicious activities and patterns that indicate potential match fixing. Advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics can be used to monitor betting markets and detect unusual betting patterns.

Lastly, stringent legal measures need to be in place to crack down on match fixing operations. This includes developing robust legislation, imposing severe penalties, and ensuring the active participation of law enforcement agencies to dismantle the networks that enable match fixing to flourish.

The revelation of match fixing as a big mafia business should serve as a wake-up call for sports enthusiasts and authorities alike. It is imperative that we understand the extent of this dark underbelly and take decisive action to protect the integrity and purity of our favorite games.

By joining forces, shedding light on the intricate workings of match fixing, and implementing stringent measures, we can hope to minimize and eventually eradicate this menace from the sports realm, ensuring that fair play and true competition thrive once again.

MATCH FIXING: The Big Mafia Business

by Doug Morneau(Kindle Edition)

5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1395 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	122 pages

FREE

“978-88-3324-087-9”

Passi di: “MATCH FIXING”. iBooks. Who is behind match fixing? How is it done, and to which aim? In 2015 we wrote for Minerva Edizioni Game Over: a report targeted at practitioners, and more specifically at investigators.  Since we did not want the book to be too ponderous, we provided a succinct description of a few topics that might have been interesting reading material even to  “non-professionals”.
These topics are dealt in depth in this volume: the history of match fixing, odd anecdotes and current state of affairs, the profile of its main characters and the explanation of the mechanisms (and complex motives) behind the swindle as well as the role played by the mafia.
You will not find any footnote: instead, the bibliography, at the end of the book, will provide you with book references as well as internet links, all relevant and interesting, although some of them, in our opinion, are a “must” for those who really wish to acquire a deep knowledge of the topic. This is why we highly recommend them to you.
The Fix by Declan Hill (2007) is a comprehensive book on the birth of modern match fixing and its close ties to the mafia. In 2014 Brett Forrest published The Big Fix where he recounts the never-ending fight between law enforcement and match fixers.  
But the real masterpieces on the subject are a book and... a very long judicial document. The book is the autobiography of one of the most notorious match fixers in the world: Wilson Raj Perumal, Kelong Kings, written by two Italian scholars, Alessandro Righi and Emanuele Piano. The judicial document is the ordinance issued by Cremona judge, Guido Salvini, in the maxi investigation on Scommessopoli that took place a few years ago (no doubt a less casual reading, yet dramatically concrete): hundreds of pages packed with wiretaps, explanatory notes of criminal mechanisms and charges that brought to its knees, at least for a while, match fixing in the Italian peninsula.
The only sources that we left in complete anonimity are those players, who over time have become our friends: they described to us the insider’s point of view, the existing dynamics in the dressing rooms, the problems and weaknesses of the athletes themselves, the ongoing match fixing techniques. At the beginning of this long journey we took their stories with a grain of salt, “perceiving” them as the fruit of their imagination...but this is not the case anymore! 
In reality football is not the only sport (nor was it the first) where match fixing took place: actually, in recent years other sport disciplines were targeted by match fixers. In this book we only hint at the story and trends of the swindle outside of football pitches, and yet it is in the world of football that the mafia invests massively its own resources, and where match fixing is not the sole objective of this criminal enterprise.   
One last remark: this is not a diatribe of a book, and where it was possible to report an event without mentioning the name of players who were disqualified or investigated, we did so: the only difference between them and many others (just as guilty as they were) lies in the simple fact that they got caught.