The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said about $1.7 trillion “is wagered on illicit betting markets each year.”
The UNODC gave the estimate in the “Global Report on Corruption in Sport,” a playbook to effectively tackle crime and corruption in sports by setting out a range of concrete policy considerations, also revealed the staggering scale, manifestation, and complexity of corruption and organised crime in sport at the global, regional, and national levels.
The report developed in partnership with nearly 200 experts from across governments, sport organisations, the private sector, academia, and related stakeholders.
While corruption in sport was not a new phenomenon, it pointed out that fraudulent activities in the running of sports institutions and competitions had been documented from the time of the ancient Olympic Games, adding that the past two decades had witnessed a substantial increase in criminal activities within the area.
“Indeed, globalisation, a huge influx of money, the rapid growth of legal and illegal sports betting, and technological advances transforming the way sport is played and consumed are making it increasingly attractive to criminal networks seeking to exploit sport for illicit profit.
“It is against this backdrop, the Global Report breaks down an extensive range of issues, analysing the role of illegal betting, competition manipulation, abuse in sport, the susceptibility of major sporting events to corruption, and the involvement of organised crime, among others,” it added.
The report also highlighted the changing landscape of sport and its relation to corrupt practices, the existing initiatives to tackle the problem, issues related to detecting and reporting wrongdoing, as well as how existing legal frameworks can be applied to address corruption within this area.
According to a statement by UNODC on Thursday, the Global Report came out at a pivotal time, with increasing emphasis being placed on anti-corruption efforts within all sectors, including the sporting community.
The report was launched ahead of next week’s biennial UN anti-corruption gathering, the conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 13th to 17th December, where the issue of corruption in sport will be discussed.
Designed for both governments and sports organisations, the global report also highlighted the urgent need to strengthen legal, policy and institutional frameworks to prevent and respond to different manifestations of corruption and crime in sport at the global, regional, and national levels.