EC / IRIS CROATIA SEMINAR FIGHT AGAINST MATCH FIXING Date: 29 October 2013 Place: Zagreb (Croatia) Participants: cf. appendix Main issues raised during the seminar: Level of match fixing risk and awareness: The match fixing risk in Croatia is considered by the participants as medium. There is a strong lack of awareness about match fixing issues (according to all the participants). Who has to fight against match fixing? In Croatia, public authorities respect the autonomy of sports organisations. There is a light cooperation between public bodies and sports organisations in the country that should be improved in the future. According to the national Olympic Committee, good governance principles and fight against match fixing are inter related. The sports movement seems to be ready to accept public intervention in case of public order risks (for instance intrusion of organised Crime within sports structures). The idea to develop new strong measures to protect sports integrity and to share information in an international cooperative way is seen as important by some participants, and first of all by the Ministry of Finance representatives. Croatia isn t clearly in favour of an international convention against match fixing. In Croatia, many sports organisations have to face financial problems, and first of all professional football clubs (like in Slovenia, it was mentioned that players salaries are sometimes paid with a long delay while the same players have to pay taxes to the State before being paid). Sports betting: In Croatia, there is a licences system for sports betting (the lottery, Hrvatska Lutrija, is one of the leaders of the market). But the State doesn t really fight against illegal betting at the moment. Some experts think that the market share of illegal betting may even increase in the future (Bwin is one of the illegal leaders in the country). As money laundering is a serious risk in the country, a state representative proposes to limit the pay out rates and to identify precisely the winning punters. 1
Measures to protect sports integrity: Participants give overwhelming support to education and information measures (to be developed within the country). At this time, no sports federation officially developed an education programme. In Croatia, there is a general criminal legislation/offence. It is hard to reach a conclusion, whether the current legislation in place is enough or additional criminal material would be needed. Measures Existing (Yes / No) Betting: Fight against illegal NO (only a general criminal law) betting Betting: Authorised list of bets NO (Hrvatska Lutrija lottery with a license for betting determines what kind of bets should be offered) Betting: Other restrictions (pay out) NO (but Hrvatska Lutrija implements some limits to optimize risk management) Sport: Education programs NO (may be existing for football on an unofficial way) Betting prohibition for sport NO (not written in the contracts) actors Conflicts of interest: Disclosure NO of inside information Integrity officer NO (except for football, due to UEFA requirements, and handball, where the marketing manager is also in charge of integrity) Sport: Prohibition to control NO betting operators Criminal offence & Sanctions NO specific offence for sports fraud (general legislation on crime) Betting: Prohibition to control NO sports when bets are offered Contract between sport and NO betting Intelligence and monitoring YES (through Hrvatska Lutrija / ELMS) Next steps and recommendations: Croatia may possibly look into the 5 following priority items (even if several participants think that, due to a high level of risk, all the measures mentioned in the chart above should be implemented): o Implementation of cooperation at a national level, for example through the National Olympic Committee (the NOC is developing a training programme for hundreds of coaches: match fixing issues could be added to these information sessions). o Appointment of an integrity officer in each big sports organisation. o Implementation of education programmes focusing on face to face (players, referees) and train the trainers. o Fight against illegal betting. o Set up some conflicts of interest rules and first of all betting prohibition (at least on their sport or competition) for all the sports stakeholders (players, referees, coaches, etc.). 2
APPENDIX LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Ratko Balenović Technical Director of Women's National Teams, Croatian Handball Federation r.balenovic@hrs.hr Boris Balent Psychologist, Croatian Association of Sports Psychologists boris.balent@gmail.com Ivana Balić Botić Senior inspector, Ministry of Finance, Tax Administration: Games of Chance Department ivana.balic.botic@porezna uprava.hr Ante Biluš Head of Office, Anti Money Laundering Office ante.bilus@mfin.hr Zvonimir Bunić Associate, Ministry of Justice, Independent Sector for the Suppression of Corruption zvonimir.bunic@pravosudje.hr Danijel Ferić Chairman of the Board, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. danijel.feric@lutrija.hr Lara Franulović Head of Internal Audit, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. lara.franulovic@lutrija.hr Ive Juretić Head of Bookmaker Service, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. ive.juretic@lutrija.hr Radica Jurkin, Head of Department of Information and Publishing, National Olympic Committee radica.jurkin@hoo.hr Siniša Krajač Head of Local Sports Department, National Olympic Committee 3
sinisa.krajac@hoo.hr Irena Krklec CSR Associate, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. irena.krklec@lutrija.hr Ilijas Krpo Deputy Head of Sports Betting Department, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. ilijas.krpo@lutrija.hr Marko Kunac Deputy Head of Betting Suport Service, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. marko.kunac@lutrija.hr Darijo Maričević Public Relation Specialist, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. darijo.maricevic@lutrija.hr Marina Mihelić Secretary General, Croatian Tennis Federation hts@hts.hr Sandra Papež Head of Games of Chance Department, Ministry of Finance, Tax Administration sandra.papez@porezna uprava.hr Alma Papić EU coordinator, National Olympic Committee hoo@hoo.hr alma.papic@hoo.hr Marko Pavlović Odds Compiler, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. marko.pavlovic@lutrija.hr Vesna Rakeli Kršul Commissioner for anti money laundering and terrorist financing measures implementation, Hrvatska Lutrija.d.o.o. vesna.krsul@lutrija.hr Tomislav Rebrović Bookmaker, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. tomislav.rebrovic@lutrija.hr Neven Ricijaš 4
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department for Behavioral Disorders, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb neven.ricijas@gmail.com Braslav Sesar Representative of the Ministry, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports petar.skansi@mzos.hr Manuela Sentderdi Spokesperson at the Croatian Olympic Committee, Croatian Olympic Committee manuela.sentderdi@hoo.hr Gordan Stepinac Commissioner for Supervision of Irregularities, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. gordan.stepinac@lutrija.hr Danijel Švigir Head of Betting Support Service, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. danijel.svigir@lutrija.hr Natalija Woska Ethics Commissioner, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o. natalija.woska@lutrija.hr Miroslav Zecic Manager, National Olympic Committee miroslav.zecic@hoo.hr 5