Italy Fixed Matches

Mouhamadou Sarr he made his Serie A debut at the Olimpico, giving his contribution to the team with a series of valuable interventions.

Not the best start, but in the end there is regret for that goal conceded…
“Yes, it’s true. The first half wasn’t the best, but then we got off to a good start and recovered. Too bad that in the end, also due to my imperfection, their third goal arrived and we didn’t bring home a point. The responsibility is mine, I’m sorry for my teammates but this is football.”

What season was it for you? You were a great protagonist in the Italian Cup…
“On a personal level, I consider it a season of growth that has had unexpected developments for me as well. For the rest I have to think about working: words are useless, it’s the field that speaks. Every game you have to be ready and take it when you have the opportunity. Now let’s think about the next one”.

What did Cremonese miss in the fight for salvation?
“Actually, as we have seen in these last few games, it’s not like the others had much more. More than anything, it was the episodes that made the difference. Sometimes we’ve only lost due to naivety, but experience in a championship like this is fundamental, it makes the difference. We paid from this point of view: it’s a pity it ended like this. We could have stayed in the race longer.”

What future awaits you?
“The future is the next game, I think about that: the near future”.

Match-fixing rarely makes the headlines, as those sportsmen involved are generally not high profile enough to rate media interest. The greatest danger lies, as it always has, in lower level, less well publicised and funded sports, where earning a living is a continuous struggle. This environment provides a constant battle for the authorities, but now the increased professionalism in women’s sport provides fertile new ground for corruption.

The marquee scalp

In January this year, newspaper headlines were awash with allegations of match-fixing at the Australian Open, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Everyone, after all, loves a headline.

Nonetheless, the news outlets lead with ’48 alerts’ and ‘Australian Open’; the appetite for high level match-fixing scandal remains strong.

This in turn led to the creation of domestic anti-corruption units in the national boards. Domestic cricket is where the focus remains.

Now though, a new development in sport has materialised, which appears to contain all the factors that make it vulnerable to match-fixing.

Women’s sport – a new corruption frontier

In many sports, the women’s game is in the nascent stages of professionalism, but it’s evolving quickly. Women’s sport is being played by more people and, crucially, watched by more people than ever before.

More than 750 million television viewers watched the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada last year.

For most, this is a progression that couldn’t come a moment too soon; after decades of subordination, women are finally getting the exposure they deserve. But therein lies the problem; for this population of players have all the characteristics needed for the ‘perfect fix’.