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Research Article

Corruption in Football of World in 21st Century

M Dousti¹*, A Tahery² and Abolfazl darvishi³

¹Department of Sports, Assistant Professor, University of Mazandara, Iran

²Department of Sports, University of Mazandaran, Iran

³Department of Sports, PhD Student, University of Mazandaran, Iran

Submission: February 28, 2018; Published: March 13, 2018

*Corresponding author: M Dousti, Department of Sports, Assistant Professor, University of Mazandara, Iran; Email: M_dostipasha@yahoo.com

How to cite this article: M Dousti, A Tahery, Abolfazl darvishi. Corruption in Football of World in 21st Century. J Phy Fit Treatment & Sports. 2018; 2(2): 555582 DOI: 10.19080/JPFMTS.2018.02.555582

Abstract

This article analyses the corruption in football of world in 21st century. In view of the many sporting events that take place every day throughout the world, the number of proven cases of corruption in sport can be put into perspective, even if the considerable percentage of unknown cases are taken into account. The purpose of this research was the study of corruption in football of world. For this purpose is used the documents, books, articles and websites has been associated with the corruption in football of world. The results show that Europe’s football is as advanced as it is more common corruption. The based on this results Football players and officials alike are made fully aware of their obligations under the anti-corruption rules, including their duty to report improper approaches, however trivial they may seem.

Keywords: Corruption; Football; Gambling; Bribers

Introduction

Corruption in sport is nothing new. The first documented case of corruption in international sport is attributed to the athlete Eupolos of Thessalia who successfully bribed three of his competitors in the first combat tournament at the Olympic Games of 388 BC, among them the reigning Olympic champion Phormion of Halikarnassos [1]. Integrity in sport is crucial to its success and to the enjoyment of participants and spectators. Sport is a global activity providing entertainment and enjoyment to an international audience who watch with intense passion. There are isolated occasions where the players involved have been tempted to cheat to gain an advantage over fellow competitors [2]. One of the most widely publicized cases of judging bias occurred during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in the pair figure skating competition. The Canadian pair was said to have skated a flawless performance, and were expected to win gold before the scores for their program were revealed.

Most accusations of corruption in sport should not be taken too seriously. When athletes lose, they tend to look everywhere else for the blame rather than at themselves. Dishonest wheeling and dealings of their opponents, such as corruption and doping, may also be readily cited as an excuse. When fans see their team lose, the accusation of rigging always quickly arises [3].

corruption in sport is understood as behavior by athletes who refrain from achieving the levels of performance normally required in the sport in question to win the competition and instead intentionally permit others to win, or behavior by sporting officials who consciously perform their allocated tasks in a manner at variance with the objectives and moral values of the relevant club, association, competitive sports in general and/ or society at large.

Set against the background that corruption affects a broad spectrum of sports and that the corruption phenomenon is virulent in every country. Corruption is understood as the use of a position by its occupant in such a way as to fulfill the tasks required of the occupant by the employing institution in a manner consciously different to the objectives of that institution. Such activity results from a desire for advantages for the occupant of the position (or, if that occupant is acting as principal agent, for acquaintances, relatives, associated organizations or parties) from the person or institution benefiting from the actions [4].

In sport, corruption may take the form of behavior by athletes who refrain from achieving the levels of performance normally required in the sport in question to win the competition and instead intentionally permit others to win, or behavior by sporting officials who consciously perform their allocated tasks in a manner at variance with the objectives and moral values of the relevant club, association, competitive sports in general and/ or society at large.

Types of corruption in sport including: Competition results (“competition corruption”), whereby the provider and the recipient of the bribes can be: athletes only; sporting officials and other non-athletes, e.g., referees, only (sometimes without the knowledge of the athletes involved); athletes and officials.

As well as: non-competition-focused decisions by sporting bodies and sports officials (referred to henceforth as “management corruption”), and in particular regarding: host venues for important competitions; allocation of rights (for example for televised transmission); nomination for positions (including honorary positions); commissioning constructions works for sports arenas and other venues.

Although there are parallels both between the causes of corruption and other forms of illicit behavior in sports such as doping as well as between their potential solutions, it is nonetheless still useful to separate the phenomena. The concept of corruption is interpreted differently from nation to nation (and from continent to continent); various types and forms exist, which need to be analyzed in different ways [5,6].

In connection with the allocation of the rights for the TV marketing of the 2002 and 2006 football World Cup Championships, allegations have also surfaced concerning the payment of bribes to association officials. So far however these allegations have had no legal consequences.

The cases discussed here, in which corruption in sports is used to attain certain positions (honorary or otherwise), influence the allocation of television or other rights, or acquire construction contracts, represent “innovations”, which until recently were considered unthinkable. It seems possible that all the areas of activity relating to sport will in future be affected by corruption, in as much as this has not happened already. For this reason alone the categorization of corruption given above can have no claim to completeness.

As for the extent of corruption in sport, it must firstly be mentioned that the extent of corruption depends heavily on the definition adopted that, as we have shown above, is in itself a problematic question. Secondly, it must also be assumed that the known cases merely represent the tip of the iceberg.

In industrialized countries such as Germany, 5% at most of corruption cases are brought to light. The problem of corruption in sport is a particularly great one, going beyond the dimensions of corruption in other areas of human endeavor. In spite of all the problems associated with quantification in ascertaining the extent of non-sporting corruption [7,8].

In view of the many sporting events that take place every day throughout the world, the number of proven cases of corruption in sport can be put into perspective, even if the considerable percentage of unknown cases are taken into account. Even the extent of corruption at the IOC discovered in the late 1990s can be relative. Following intensive internal investigations, just fewer than 10% of the members of the IOC were either cautioned or punished (within the space of one year).

The reduction of the degree of discretionary leeway would also be an efficient anti-corruption measure for other sporting disciplines. In football for example, which has often been associated with corruption on the part of referees, a number of steps towards making referee decisions more objective are conceivable, including electronic registering of balls going out of play, 3D location systems and enabling instant correction of referee decisions via video review [9].

Stricter controls (that is heightened likelihood of discovery and prosecution) and increased penalties could serve to influence the decision calculations of the potentially corrupt in the direction of honest behavior.

The connection between system of control and degree of punishment on the one hand and corruption on the other is however more complex than may first appear. Success in combating corruption depends on the practical measures taken. Iran Football betting has become a business. Government is the custodian of football in our country and all its works from the competitions to get all the other administrative procedures, and the only thing is that people do is play football and watch it!

Despite the large number of studies on corruption in sport [10-25], study about corruption in sport in Iran especially in football has received little attention. In the current atmosphere of sport in Iran, especially football, to fight the corruption in the sport is admirable, and certainly people in sport and football would welcome this, because a significant portion of the layers of corruption in football in Iran has been accumulated. So, powerful and influential network of corruption that exists in football that does not solve short-term programs.

The findings of this research can help the football managers and policy makers to planning for controlling and prevention of corruption and also for building a football full of health.

Methodology

The purpose of this research was the study of corruption in football of Iran and world. Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often needed than large samples. The process of this research are includes the qualitative research with study of articles and documents.

Finding and Results

The results show that apart from the a few some obvious corruptions in football of Iran there are no others records for the corruption (Table 1). Because of the high incidence of corruption in Italian football, the table of corruption in football of Italy have presented separately. As show that in Table 2, the most popular corruption in the Italy's top professional football leagues occur at 2006. As show that in Table 3, Europe's football is as advanced as it is more common corruption. As can be seen in Table 4, there is corruption in the football world. Asian countries have the highest share.

Discussion and Conclusion

Corruption is a major problem for the sporting authorities to deal with the emerging discourse about corruption in football cannot be understood without drawing stronger connections to the media discourse on broader societal corruption.

Corruption has a major affect on those that keep professional sport functioning spectators, television and sponsors. For example in the 2006 Italian football scandal involved Italy's top professional football leagues, Serie A and Serie B. The scandal was uncovered in May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina when a number of telephone interceptions showed a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organizations. Juventus were the champions of Serie A at the time. The teams have been accused of rigging games by selecting favorable referees.

Corruption puts spectators off attending events, watching them on television and sponsors from giving them the money they need for competitions.

In view of the many of football competitions that take place every day throughout the world, the number of proven cases of corruption in football can be put into perspective, even if the considerable percentage of unknown cases are taken into account.

The categories of corruption on football are concerned, two tendencies. Firstly, at least within the cases of competition corruption that have come to light, competition judges and other officials are becoming involved in corruption more frequently whilst, in contrast to previous eras, athletes and trainers are less often directly involved. Secondly a tendency towards an increased number of cases of management corruption in football can also be observed.

In order to finance bribes of a sufficient amount for decision makers, the bribers must expect sufficiently high economic rents from the victory they have purchased. Only those types of sport are affected by corruption that is able to generate considerable sources of income of football. In order for economic rents of this kind to be established in the long term (and for corruption not to be a merely temporary phenomenon), limitations to competition need to be in place.

As far as the role of discretionary margins for corruption is concerned, simple, transparent and easily understandable decisions are at a low risk of corruption. On the other hand, decisions in which abuses of freedom of decision can quickly be discovered are also hardly at risk from corruption. Thus the creation of a high degree of transparency is of considerable importance in combating corruption. This can be achieved, for example, by the detailed documentation of decision-making processes, the monitoring of executive and administrative bodies by a number of staff members or by the creation of internal auditing departments to monitor staff.

Increasing controls and introducing tougher penalties. In addition to the exclusion from sporting activities already practiced by most sports associations, the effectiveness of higher fines ought to be tested.

The Officials of football federation in Iran must be trying to various initiatives to help remedy the problems associated with corruption. Football Players must be educated and aware of the threats to the integrity of football, along with education and awareness of the rules and regulations against betting, gambling, and performance enhancing drugs. A crucial aspect of addressing the threats to integrity in football is an effective education and awareness program for all players, players' support staff, officials and other relevant persons. Players and all those connected with football must understand the nature of the threats and the penalties if caught, as well as the need to act responsibly in enhancing the integrity of football. A strong message must be delivered that each player, official, and coach has a role to play in maintaining and enhancing the integrity of football.

Football players and officials alike are made fully aware of their obligations under the anti-corruption rules, including their duty to report improper approaches, however trivial they may seem. This is vital not only to ensure that incidents of attempted match fixing are properly investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities, but also to ensure that the public perception of the "integrity of football" is maintained so far as possible. With regard to the process of effective education, sporting governing bodies, anti-corruption units and players" and officials" associations all have a key role to play. Put simply, where there is a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the relevant rules, there can be little or no excuse for failing to comply.

In order to be able to provide a meaningful analysis of anticorruption measures in football, reference should first of all be made to the economic causes. These indicate that corruption arises when for both the potential briber and the potential recipient of the bribes this is seen, within a rational calculation, to be a dominant, net utility increasing strategy as set against other, legitimate behavioral alternatives.