July 21, 2024

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There’s a “tsunami” alert for Canada—not from the weather. While most attention has focused on sports betting scandals in the U.S., the next big storm could erupt north of the border. Why? Because the country doesn’t have specific laws banning match-fixing. The clock is ticking, with Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. poised to host the World Cup in 2026.

— Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]

O No Canada: The Next Big Sports Betting Scandal Could Erupt North of the Border

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Criminal and banned betting activity in American sports leagues is already sounding alarm bells. But for all the problematic—and mostly poorly regulated [[link removed]]—activity in the U.S., the next gambling bombshell could drop from our neighbor to the north.

Despite its relatively small population of 39 million, Canada is a big gambling nation. Canadians legally wager more than $20 billion a year on sports, according to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. They spend another $10 billion with illegal bookies. Yet amid this thirst for sports betting, there are no laws on the books explicitly banning match-fixing [[link removed]], warn sports betting experts.

Take the case of Jontay Porter, the disgraced NBA journeyman who in July pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy [[link removed]] in connection to his involvement in an illegal betting scheme. Amazingly, Porter’s actions—which included betting on his own games and sharing inside info with gamblers—are not technically illegal in Canada, notes Declan Hill at the University of New Haven, the author of The Insider’s Guide to Match-Fixing in Football.

The reason for this lack of governance is complicated. Section 209 of Canada’s federal criminal code does state that cheating while playing a game, or betting with intent to defraud someone, are indictable offenses, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

But that “archaic” provision was written before the country legalized sports betting, says Danielle M. Bush, senior counsel at McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto. Canadian lawmakers need to pull their heads out of the sand and pass something more specific, she tells Front Office Sports.

Without a firm national policy or effective reporting mechanisms, Canada may be “sleepwalking” [[link removed]] into a major point-shaving scandal. And looking north, match-fixing watchdogs, like Hill, are already at DEFCON 1. “Even on July 1st [Canada Day], our national holiday, there was a [soccer match] we flagged as being highly suspicious in Canada. But there’s nothing anyone can do,” Hill, who is Canadian, tells FOS. “It’s open season for match-fixing up there.”

Some guardrails are in place, yet there’s already plenty of precedent of match-fixing, point-shaving, and bribery in Canada.

The federal government legalized single-game sports betting in August 2021. Mobile sports betting kicked in the following year. In the wake of those moves, the Canadian Football League [[link removed]] banned its players from betting on games, wagering via proxies, or sharing inside information. This year, the CFL suspended defensive lineman Shawn Lemon [[link removed]] of the Calgary Stampeders for betting on multiple league games in ’21, including one of his own games.

Canada has also become a host for organized crime groups. In April, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police broke up an underground online sports betting network controlled by alleged Hells Angels enforcer Paris Christoforou. The ring operated five gaming houses in the Toronto area. Previously, the Ontario Provincial Province busted a Hells Angels [[link removed]]–controlled betting ring in 2019 that included illegal sports betting and online gaming websites offering gamblers as much as $20,000 in credit.

In 2012, CBC News [[link removed]] reported a European organized crime syndicate bribed Canadian soccer players to fix a game. For years, the semipro Canadian Soccer League has been rumored to be a “hotspot” of match-fixing and corruption, according to the Toronto Star [[link removed]]; one Chinese Malaysian bookie who ran his own illegal gambling site said to the paper’s reporter, “You are supposed to be honest people. How can you be honest when so many fixed soccer games are going on in your country?”

Match-fixing is a coming “tsunami” that threatens both the integrity of beloved Canadian sports leagues like the NHL and CFL and the safety of players and coaches, according to a 2023 white paper [[link removed]] by CCES and McLaren Global Sports Solutions. “Competition manipulation—or match-fixing—is rising at an alarming rate globally, and Canada is not immune to this threat,” warned MGSS chief executive officer Richard McLaren. “Both regulated and illegal betting markets are being exploited by bad actors and criminal organizations, who often prey on vulnerable athletes in the process. Several Canadian sports have been shown to be at heightened risk and can be influenced from abroad, including offshore betting.”

Despite growing legalization of sports wagering, match-fixing is a problem for global leagues, even when there are explicit bans in place.

This summer, an investigative team at Hill’s University of New Haven flagged matches played around the world [[link removed]], from May 31 to July 2, when “bizarre” odds movements triggered alarms. They included games in the U.S., Canada, Russia, China, and Brazil. This encompasses major sports such as tennis, and basketball as well as volleyball, cricket, and table tennis. And Hill warns the problem may be spilling into women’s sports amid growing suspicions of illegal betting and corruption across these leagues.

“There are tons of big events which are being fixed. Especially now, lately the trend is very huge events in e-sports as well,” Hill writes on his Substack page [[link removed]]. “Because there is no punition. You can just fix and not get punished.”

There is renewed urgency to make changes, says Bush, as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. She tells FOS she would like to see something in place similar to the United Kingdom’s Gambling Act of 2005. “Canada would do well to pass a federal statute that closely hews to the U.K.’s statute and to do so in time to deal with the World Cup games that will be hosted in Canada.”

Organizations including CCES would also like to see some sort of national policy, too. They also want the Canadian government to sign the Macolin Convention, which aims to detect, prevent, and punish match-fixing.

Wherever it happens, match-fixing goes beyond crooked players making a few bucks. Instead, it’s a dagger aimed at the fan experience. If fans lose faith that games are legit, watch out, warns sports super-agent Leigh Steinberg.

“Bad behavior by athletes doesn’t kill professional sports. There’s been plenty of that,” Steinberg told FOS. “The only thing that could [hamper the popularity of sports] is the perception by fans that they were watching [professional] wrestling. That it is somehow scripted or predetermined or there were actions or facts going on the public wasn’t aware of, and we have seen that happen.”

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