IAG MAR 2023

IAG MAR 2023年3月 亞博匯 94 10 YEARS AGO I nside Asian Gaming went a little left field for our March 2013 cover story, taking a deep dive into the world of match-fixing and the role Asia was playing in this growing game of cat and mouse. With the annual value of global sports betting estimated at around US$500 billion at the time, of which 90% was bet on football, our story was born out of a press conference held in early February 2013 by Europol in which it outlined the shocking findings of an 18-month investigation into match-fixing, and from the testimony of a former match-fixing ringleader himself, Wilson Raj Perumal, who told authorities upon his arrest of a global syndicate running match-fixing out of Singapore. TheEuropol pressconference was indeed eye-opening. Director Rob Wainwright, who described it as “a sad day for European football”, revealed that 19 months of work conducted in partnership with Interpol and police from 13 EU states had uncovered 680 “suspicious” games worldwide dating back to 2008, 380 of them in Europe, including World Cup and European Championship qualification matches, two UEFA Champions League matches and matches in several top intrastate leagues. More than 400 players, referees, club officials and “serious criminals” had been involved. Sportradar, which has long monitored such action and continues to do so to this day, said there were at least 300 crooked games played in Europe each year, while UEFA estimated match-fixing raked in around US$15 billion annually. Meanwhile, Mr Perumal’s insights into his former syndicate following his arrest told of a massive operation that Nineteen months of work … had uncovered 680 “suspicious” games worldwide … including World Cup and European Championship qualification matches, two UEFA Champions League matches and matches in several top intrastate leagues. 19個月調查中，在全球各地發現了680場有可疑 的賽事，當中包括世界盃及歐冠盃的資格賽，兩 場歐洲冠軍聯賽賽事，還有多場不同的頂級國內 聯賽賽事等。 亞 博匯》2013年3月 的封面故事遊走邊 界，深入探討了所 謂「打假波」的運 動賽事造假，以及 亞洲在這個規模日漸增大的爾虞我詐遊 戲當中，到底扮演甚麼角色。 當時，全球的運動博彩投注總額約 為5億美元一年，當中90%的投注是在 足球賽事上面。我們封面故事的起源， 就是2013年2月初的一場歐洲刑警組織 召開的記者會。當局在會上公佈了他們 在長達18個月的比賽造假調查中所得的 驚人發現。此外，一個名為Wilson Raj Perumal的前比賽造假幕後主腦，亦在 被當局拘捕後，於口供中說出一個位於 新加坡卻涉足全球比賽的造假集團。 那場歐洲刑警組織記者會，可謂令 人大開眼界。該組織負責人Rob Wain- wright形容，那天是「歐洲足球悲哀的 一日」。他透露，在與國際刑警和13個 歐盟國家的警察部門通力合作進行的19 個月調查工作中，自2008年起，在全 球各地發現了680場有可疑的賽事，其 《