Έκθεση της «Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA)» αποκαλύπτει σκάνδαλο με στημένους αγώνες ποδοσφαίρου της περσινής αγωνιστικής περιόδου. Είναι φανερό ότι τέτοια γεγονότα δίνουν αρνητικά πρότυπα στην νεολαία διαστρέφοντας το νόημα του αθλητισμού, που παραμορφώνεται μέσα από τα τεράστια ποσά που διακινούνται με τον «τζόγο» και τα στοιχήματα.

Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη το άρθρο 165 παρ.2 της Συνθήκης για την λειτουργία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, το οποίο αναφέρει ότι «η δράση της Ένωσης έχει ως στόχο: … να αναπτύσσει την ευρωπαϊκή διάσταση του αθλητισμού, προάγοντας την δικαιότητα και τον ανοιχτό χαρακτήρα των αθλητικών αναμετρήσεων και τη συνεργασία μεταξύ των αρμόδιων για τον αθλητισμό φορέων, καθώς και προστατεύοντας τη σωματική και ηθική ακεραιότητα των αθλητών, ιδίως των νεότερων μεταξύ τους.» ερωτάται η Επιτροπή:

Έχει ερευνήσει την υπόθεση, και πώς την σχολιάζει; Ποια μέτρα αναμένει η Επιτροπή ότι θα πρέπει να λάβει η UEFA απέναντι στις ομοσπονδίες, τις ομάδες, τους παράγοντες και τους αθλητές, που ενέχονται στο σκάνδαλο; Δεδομένων των τεράστιων ποσών, που «τζογάρονται» κάθε χρόνο σε νόμιμα ή παράνομα στοιχήματα και τα οποία αποτελούν μόνιμο κίνητρο για το «στήσιμο» αθλητικών γεγονότων, τι μέτρα προτίθεται να λάβει η Επιτροπή;

Match fixing undermines the social and educational functions of sport. It distorts the ethos of professional as well as grass-roots sport, as it represents a direct threat to the integrity of sport competitions. Match fixing episodes are often associated to illicit gambling and corruption and they typically involve international criminal networks.

Due to the worldwide popularity of sport and to the trans-frontier nature of images from sporting events and of gambling activities, the dimension of the problem often goes beyond the remit of national authorities. In line with article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that the action of the Union must promote fairness in sporting competitions and cooperation between bodies responsible for sports, and following calls from sport stakeholders the Commission will address the issue of match fixing as it risks undermining the value of sport in Europe.

In this context, the Commission has consulted UEFA with regard to the recent match fixing scandal under investigation by the German authorities. The Commission has offered UEFA its support in raising awareness about match-fixing related problems at EU level.

Regarding illicit gambling, the Commission is not aware of any match fixing allegations against reputable European operators. Its services are, in the context of their work on the internal market for licit cross-border sports betting services, monitoring a number of Member States' regulatory bodies who are working closely with licit on-line sports betting service providers to detect illegal activities. Moreover, bookmakers themselves in order to attract customers have put in place self-regulatory early-warning systems with sports federations to detect fraudulent activities taking place within individual sporting events.

Regarding the wider problem of corruption, the Commission is in the process of establishing a mechanism for monitoring Member States' efforts to fight corruption both in the public and in the private sector.

The Commission will support the sport movement and other relevant stakeholders (such as betting companies and media) in their efforts to stem match fixing episodes at European level. In this respect, the Commission is supportive of types of partnership where sports stakeholders have been working with betting companies to develop early warning systems aimed at preventing fraud and match-fixing scandals in sport. They are an example of good governance in the field of sport betting.

The Commission will also support cooperation between the private and public sector in order to find the most effective ways to address match fixing and other forms of corruption and financial crime in European sport.