Chris Eaton (FIFA, Head of Security); Francesco Ghirelli (Lega Pro CEO) and Graham Peacker (UEFA, Head of Disciplinary)
The Italian Lega Pro organised a high-level workshop on match fixing and illegal betting in Rome, on 16th January. Complementing other recent initiatives by the League aimed at referees, this unprecedented event, which targeted the heads of the youth departments of Lega Pro clubs, born from the collaboration between Lega Pro, Sportradar, FIFA and UEFA.
Sporting frauds, with special attention to match fixing and illegal betting, were the central topics of the debate, which aimed to improve the understanding of these threats and to highlight the role of each stakeholder in the fight against them at both political and sporting levels.
The workshop was also counted with the contributions of the new President of the Italian Observatory on Sporting Events, Roberto Sgalla; FIFA’s Head of Security, Chris Eaton; UEFA’s Head of Disciplinary, Graham Peacker; Interpol’s Director of the Anti-Corruption Office, Lord Frederick; and representatives of Sportradar, an agency specialised in fraud through the collection and analysis of data on football matches.
"We have committed to tackle the problem of illegal betting for quite a long time now. From August 2011 till now, we have monitored together with Sportradar almost 900 games without having evidence of anomalies: this is a major step forward" said Mario Macalli, President of Lega Pro.
