International Investigations in Sport: Catching Wrongdoers

During the UEFA European Football Championships, hundreds of specialised officers across 28 countries were targeting organised crime groups looking to earn millions from illegal gambling and related money laundering activities.

INTERPOL announced in 2021 that their Operation SOGA VIII (short for soccer gambling) led to thousands of raids and the arrest of some 1,400 suspects across Asia and Europe. Authorities seized USD 7.9 million in cash, as well as computers and mobile phones connected to nearly USD 465 million in bets. 

More recently from November 2022 to January 2023 in relation to the World Cup in Qatar, Operation SOGA IX resulted in 1,200 arrests and significant seizures, including USD 2 million in confiscated funds and USD 76 million in digital betting records. 

International federations (IFs) have to be constantly vigilant about a broad range of threats, including match-fixing, doping and safeguarding concerns, and must work collaboratively with a variety of bodies and organisations to investigate and collate information about allegations of wrongdoing.

How do IFs go about this process and from where do they get their intelligence and information? How do they address data protection issues? How do they overcome geographical constraints and geo-political realities, particularly in the current climate with the war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East.

This session will focus on the challenges faced by international federations when conducting their inquiries and the steps they take to overcome difficulties to gather evidence and conclude investigations.

Nigel Mawer (WPBSA Vice Chairman and Head of Integrity) will give a presentation on how WPBSA approaches investigations in Snooker, followed by a panel discussion with Karen Moorhouse (CEO of International Tennis Integrity Agency) and Brett Clothier (CEO of the Athletics Integrity Unit). 

To views the speaker profiles please visit the “speaker” section here.

TICKETS

Early Bird Tickets  are priced at £330.00 exc. of VAT and are available until 23:59 on Monday 18 March 2024.

Our Group Ticket permits three tickets to be purchased for the price of two standard price tickets (which works out as £263.33 exc. of VAT per ticket). Please note that this offer is only applicable to standard ticket prices and all three attendees must be from the same organisation. 

For more ticket types please visit the “Tickets” section here.

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

Every year we host over 200 legal and sport professionals at our event. These conferences provide many opportunities for our attendees to network. We serve breakfast (hot drinks and pastries) during the registration period where attendees get an early opportunity to meet other professionals as well as during the two coffee breaks and the open buffet lunch. 

We also host a separate breakfast between 8am and 9am in association with Women in Sports Law (WISLaw), to encourage female professionals to meet and share views (please note that the WISLaw breakfast is also open to male professionals if they wish to join).

And finally after the conference we will host a networking drinks reception in the hotel's bar.