The Worst Sports Betting Scandals Ever: Part I
by Karl Yu
16 Nov 06
Sports and betting are two things that seem to go hand-in-hand. Bettors in the countries of England and the United States love football—albeit different versions—and wager huge amounts of money on it. Bettors in Canada always like to make a trip to their local corner grocery store so that they can bet on hockey through the many sports lotteries. If one is not a gambling addict, betting on a sporting event can be good fun.
Although the relationship between wagering and sports has gone on for a long time, the two haven’t always had a smooth ride. While few complications can arise when people bet, Pandora’s Box can be opened when the line between sports and gambling is blurred.
Hoyzer hoses German soccer
In Germany, the name Robert Hoyzer will forever bear the same stench as Shoeless Joe’s in America.
If MLB was rocked by the Black Sox scandal in 1919, then German soccer was rocked by the Hoyzer scandal in 2005. Robert Hoyzer didn’t wear Bayern Munich red or FC Schalke blue. He wore the stripes of a referee, or in the case of a Bundesliga ref, yellow.
In a 2004 German Cup game, Bundesliga’s Hamburg SV played against the regional league’s Paderborn—a matchup roughly equivalent to a Major League Baseball team playing a minor league team. HSV seemingly had control, leading 2-0 in the first, but a series of controversial calls, including the red carding of SV player Emile Mpenza, gave Paderborn the 4-2 upset.
Many were suspicious of the monumental upset and there suspicions were justified when rumors began to surface that Hoyzer had bet on games he was involved in. Like Pete Rose, Hoyzer vehemently denied betting, but eventually fessed up.
With his career as an official over, Hoyzer corroborated with officials and a scandal every bit as epic as the Black Sox scandal emerged.
According to testimony from the former referee, a Croatian organized crime syndicate in Berlin, paid players and officials to fix matches, and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) was even implicated, as the syndicate had advanced copies of confidential referee lists for games in UEFA Champions League and Cup games.
Despite the fact that Hoyzer aided the investigation, he still received a prison sentence and German soccer initiated a series of reforms just in time for the start of this year’s World Cup.
Italy not lucky on eve of Germany 2006
While Germany had over a year to let their match-fixing controversy die down, an alleged scandal came to light in Italy just in time for the start of World Cup 2006.
A scandal of Hoyzer and Pete Rose like proportions is alleged to have taken place in Serie A, Italy’s top soccer division, over the past few years. During an unrelated doping scandal investigation against top tier soccer club Juventus, officials tapped phones and uncovered something much more sinister. It involved officials, at least four Serie A teams, and players—including Italian World Cup goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
New details seem to be emerging everyday as investigations are ongoing, but essentially, the scandal seems to revolve around actions of former Juventus GM Luciano Moggi or “Lucky Luciano” as he has been called.
One of the major accusations is that Moggi influenced which referees would officiate games. Italian media outlets published transcripts where Moggi told referee Chief Pierluigi Pairetto which officials to appoint to Juve games—he was pushing for ones who would favor his team. There are also allegations that Moggi would have referees yellow and red card other teams’ star players so that they would miss games against Juventus with suspension.
He is accused of illegally detaining referees who officiated a Juventus loss to Reggina in late 2004. The referees were apparently locked in their change room after the game.
When Pope John Paul II was on his death bed and Italy was at a standstill, Moggi allegedly tried to convince a government minister not to postpone a game against Fiorentina, who was missing four players with injuries and suspensions.
There are also 19 suspicious matches which investigators are scrutinizing to determine if they were indeed fixed.
On top of that Moggi is accused of tax evasion and coercing national coach Marcello Lippi to appoint players from GEA, a player agency run by Moggi’s son Alessandro, to the national team.
In light of the investigations, Moggi and Juventus’ entire board resigned.
Sports and betting have seemingly gone together like beer and nuts since the early 20th century. People seem to get a thrill from wagering on games of chance and where is chance more at work than a sporting event? Nevertheless chance can be compromised when a person that is involved in the game wagers or tries to manipulate the outcome. An athlete, a coach, ref, or executive can avoid opening Pandora’s Box by staying away from potential conflicts of interest that betting on your own sport can cause.
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