Gold Cup Match-Fixing: Alleged Improprieties Continue to Taint Soccer

Reports of match fixing are nothing new in the seedy world of international soccer, though the latest indications of potential collusion in the Gold Cup—between monetary gambling interests off the pitch and the players doing their bidding on it—should serve as yet another wake-up call to both CONCACAF and FIFA.

The sport needs stricter oversight.

According to Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, the national teams of Grenada, Cuba and El Salvador likely threw matches during the CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament last summer.

Said Chris Eaton, FIFA's head of security, to SI.com:

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"There has been information that some matches in the Gold Cup were manipulated. We worked with CONCACAF at the time, and CONCACAF have been very interested in following up any information that can be revealed in the future on that."

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For some betting industry insiders, the combination of lopsided scores—Grenada lost its three matches by a total score of 15-1, Cuba by a 16-1 margin—and dramatic shifts in "in-running betting," particularly among the Asian markets, clearly indicates that something fishy went on during the tournament.

Of course, the fact that a scandal of this sort underpinned much of the tournament should come as little surprise to anyone who follows football, whether club or international. Allegations and investigations like this have rocked sporting establishments from places as disparate as China, Finland, Nigeria and Malaysia over the years.

Even Italy's top domestic football league, Serie A, is notorious for the presence of flippant match manipulation among some of its clubs from year to year, often costing the league slots in the UEFA Champions League.

Similar circumstances unfolded in Turkey's Super Lig, wherein Fenerbahce, the league champion, was found to have been directly involved in match-fixing and, as a result, was forced to give up its spot in European competition to Trabzonspor.

As harmless and petty as this sort of activity may seem from a fan's standpoint, it ultimately cuts right to the heart of the sport, raising questions about the legitimacy of what we are witnessing.

If fans cannot and do not trust the product, then they won't as readily support it, thereby harming the popularity of the game. This can be particularly detrimental in emerging football markets.

More important, however, is the connection between the sport and organized crime.

Betting on soccer is a big business, comprising the vast majority of the $1 trillion sports gambling market worldwide. There will always be shady activity associated with soccer so long as there is money to be made from it.

However, for the sport to serve as a vehicle of profit for international mobs—many of whom likely traffic in other activities that are worse than paying off players to throw a fixture or two—only further dirties an already filthy game.

It doesn't help that this game has been run as much by corrupt politicians like FIFA president Sepp Blatter as by black-market criminals in the shadows.

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