Former security chief at Fifa says soccer became organised crime's 'amazing cash cow'
Chris Eaton said the arrest of 14 leading figures from the sport's world governing body was "just the tip of the tip of the iceberg''.
The US Department of Justice investigation into alleged corruption at the highest levels of world soccer will expose the extent to which organised crime has corrupted the sport through match fixing, betting fraud and the explosion in online gambling.
Chris Eaton, a former head of security at Fifa – world soccer’s governing body at the eye of the corruption storm – says the explosive arrest of 14 leading figures in the organisation is “just the tip of the tip of the iceberg’’
Eaton, who quit Fifa three years ago over what he said was its failure to reform, said soccer has become an “amazing cash cow” for transnational crime syndicates, who through the corruption and bribery of sports officials, as well as control over online betting sites, make huge profits from fixed matches.
“Organised crime has found a nirvana in sports betting fraud and is using match-fixing as the vehicle,” Eaton - who now heads up the International Centre for Sport Security - told the Sunday Morning Post .
“It’s not like drug-trafficking or human-trafficking, where there is a risk when crossing international borders. With betting fraud, there is no risk. It is the easiest way for criminals to make money,” said the Australian former police investigator.
The comments come just a day after embattled Fifa president Sepp Blatter highlighted match-fixing as one of the challenges facing the organisation which has been rocked by a litany of fixing scandals in previous years.
The 79-year-old Swiss, who on Friday was re-elected to his fifth term as Fifa head, also lashed out at the US, implying the timing of the announcement of their investigation was aimed at scuppering his re-election plans.
For Eaton, the vote for the top job was actually a vote on whether to remain stagnant or reform – and Fifa chose the former, he said.
In the past decade, organised crime has corrupted key soccer officials – many from countries in Blatter’s support bloc – who are able to assist with the fixing of matches, said Eaton.
Simultaneously, the syndicates expanded their presence into online betting, a booming grey industry that is believed to turn over hundreds of billions of US dollars every year.
The ability to control the outcome of matches and the betting odds has led to widespread betting fraud and made the criminals responsible very wealthy, Eaton said.
“Countless people have alerted Fifa to the issue of match-fixing for purposes of betting fraud. Why has nothing been done?” said betting expert Patrick Jay, a former director of trading at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
“Why has the body for the world’s biggest sport allowed this to happen? The NFL in the US wouldn’t allow it. Any suggestion of impropriety and the US brings out federal law enforcement – like they’ve done with the Fifa case this week.”
