Spain – Declan Hill – Investigative Journalist & Academic

16AugAugust 16, 2019

’Sometimes we fixed more games than we could bet’

In an exclusive interview with Play the Game, a former match-fixer tells how effectively criminal syndicates are still manipulating sports results despite all initiatives against it. The whole approach against match-fixing could be wrong, Declan Hill reports. This was first printed at: https://www.playthegame.org/news/news-articles/2019/0584_sometimes-we-fixed-more-games-than-we-could-bet/ ** The knock came late at night. Marko Stanovic – whose name has been changed to help protect him from the mob – was in one of the world’s great match-fixing gangs. A group whose criminal ties stretched deep...

15JanJanuary 15, 2019

The Words of the Deep Source Match-Fixers

Last spring, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a number of documents from fixers at the heart of the latest sports corruption investigation that resulted in dozens of players and match-fixers being arrested in Spain https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/46822784. I did not publish them as I did not want to jeopardize the investigation, but now here are a few pages. They show that the full extent of the syndicate has not yet been revealed. The organization is operating across Europe...

09NovNovember 9, 2017

Communists, Criminals or Both? The October Revolution

The door is thick and well padded, but it was not enough to protect the leaders of the first Russian revolution. It is located in a room in the labyrinth-like Hermitage Palace on the seafront of Saint Petersburg. Today, the Hermitage is the world’s largest museum. In October 1917, it was the headquarters of the Mensheviks – a weak, social democratic government. The Mensheviks had overthrown Czar Nicholas II a few months before and captured his vast palace. Unable to govern...

05AprApril 5, 2017

Mafia Threats and the To Do List for European Football

He is one of the most powerful men in world football. Yet another goal in the Eldnese 12-0 loss to Barcelona B We met at the offices of a very prominent European Football Association. He was there with a colleague. I was there to speak to them about match-fixing. The officials were interested, purportedly, in better protecting their sport. However, when his colleague, briefly, left the room. The official leaned forward and said deliberately, “Listen, if you fuck us over I have...

10JunJune 10, 2016

How to Fix the European Championship

This is an article that I hate to write. I hope that fixing does not happen at the upcoming European Championship. I hope that no teams, players or officials are involved in corruption. However, for all the football fans that are concerned for the integrity of the beautiful game here is the blueprint of how match-fixers go about corrupting a big international football tournament. I write this because the only way to find proof of match-fixing is to mount proper investigations....

24JunJune 24, 2015

The ‘Sports’ Farce in Washington

To my American colleagues who went to the seminar on ‘sports integrity’ at the National Press Club on June 24th, You saw a presentation by a man with little credibility in sports integrity and two other men who have failed. You attended a presentation sponsored by the Qatari sports establishment. This is a group that is suspected by sports fans around the world of corruption in securing the rights to the World Cup tournament of 2022. This is a group that...