(From left) ICSS executive director Chris Eaton, UNESCO’s Angela Melo and ICSS president Mohamed Hanzab.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) executive director Chris Eaton has said that as much as one billion euros is gambled globally on every English Premier League game.
Eaton, talking on the sidelines of a Unesco-ICSS joint meeting to follow-up on the commitments outlined in the Declaration of Berlin to tackle the manipulation of sports competitions, also added that a vast majority of these bets are illegal.
“Up to one billion euros is bet on each Premier League game,” Eaton was quoted as saying to AFP yesterday. “Absolutely nothing is immune.”
There was no suggestion that the bets affected the outcome of any Premier League matches.
The Unesco-ICSS meeting gathered over 60 international experts, including government officials, international experts and leaders in sport to follow-up on the commitments outlined in the Declaration of Berlin to tackle the manipulation of sports competitions.
Speaking at the opening session, Division for Youth Ethics and Sport, Sector for Social and Human Sciences director of Unesco Angela Melo said: “Adopted in 2013 by the 5th World Conference of Sport Ministers (MINEPS V), the Declaration of Berlin marks a decisive milestone in strengthening co-operation between governments and sports federations because it is the first international declaration on the fight against manipulation of sports competitions.
“Unesco wishes to reaffirm that the strengthening of cooperation between governments, regulatory authorities and sports federations will be key to the success of our future actions.
“This meeting hopes to bring about concrete actions that could be implemented in the short and medium term to effectively fight against manipulation of sports competitions.”
ICSS president Mohamed Hanzab said: “Four years ago, the ICSS started working on the subject of match-fixing and since then, we have been involved in many discussions and international projects, including work with Council of Europe, Unesco, UNODC and the Sorbonne University, to tackle this issue.
“However, the Sport Movement alone cannot successfully prevent and fight the manipulation of sport competitions, particularly when corruption and transnational organised crime are involved.
“Unesco’s 5th World Conference of Sport Ministers and the resulting MINEPS V Declaration of Berlin were as significant milestone for sport and we are gathered here for two days of intense intellectual discussions with 60 of the world’s leading experts.
“I want to thank Unesco for trusting us with this meeting and for the cooperation initiated two years ago within the framework of the Unesco-ICSS Joint Capacity Building Programme.”
