Duemmler 1

Lukas Duemmler
UWRT 1103-037
Ms. Caruso
November 17, 2015
Sports Talk and Corruption in Sports
Sports analysists and authors have a tendency to write about sports events and news, such
as corruption, in magazines such as Sports Illustrated or on athletic news websites similar to
Bleacher Report or Buzz Feed. If a person is interested in information about a topic that occurred
in an athletic event, they will acquire this information from places such as these. Sports Talk the
mock website used to represent a similar website as Bleacher Report, is set up in the same way.
Cases of bribery and corruption have been present in athletics since the invention of sports. In
388 BC, at the first combat tournament of the Olympic Games, Eupolos of Thessalia is the first
documented case of corruption in sports for bribing three of his competitors. Similarly,
corruption in sports management is recorded around the same time (Maennig sec. 1). Since then,
the institution of corruption and illegal betting has significantly grown developed. There are
different types of corruption in sports; there is match-fixing where teams lose on purpose to
secure a better playoff position or to win a betting outcome (Asis par. 2). Both bribery and
corruption are posing threats to the integrity of sports. What ethics are appropriate in
professional sport (Whysall par. 2)? Sports analysists and authors have a tendency to write
about sports events and news, like corruption, in magazines such as Sports Illustrated or on
athletic news websites similar to Bleacher Report or Buzz Feed. If a person wants to know
information about a topic that occurred in an athletic event, they will most likely look in one of

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these places. Sports Talk the mock website used to represent a similar website as Bleacher
Report, is set up in the same way.
On these websites readers usually receive short news stories with enough information
regarding popular topics in sports. Sports Talk, although set up only as a blog right now at this
moment, would eventually turn sprout into a website with more frequently written and credible
stories based mostly on the growing topic of corruption in modern day sports. Wolfgang
Maennig divides corruption in modern sports into two categories; competition corruption and
management corruption. Competition corruption is where the provider and the recipient of the
bribes can be: athletes only, sporting officials and other non-athletes, or athletes and officials
(sec. 2). During the Australian Grand Prix of 2002, a Formula 1 race, a Ferrari driver let allowed
his teammate to pass him by only feet from the finish line. Although no direct payout is involved
in this particular example, Barrichello, the driver who was passed, followed the instructions to
keep his place on the team.
An immense business that relates to competition corruption is illegal sports betting
and bribery. Bribery takes place whenever a person causes, attempts, or conspires to influence
with the intent to secure a desired result (LawInfo sec. 1). Illegal betting is quickly rapidly
developing into becoming a large institution. In fact, according to an article in BBN in 2013, the
institution could be worth as much as $500 bn per year (Singh par. 5). Many people, parents in
particular, may not know how severe these numbers actually are and because of this, Sports Talk
needs to report on these topics to make parents aware. One of the main fears for betting, is that if
it is not controlled, it could do irreplaceable damage to various sports. This is particularly evident
in match-fixing because if the outcome of the game is known, then there is no need for skilled
and talented athletes to actually work for the win. Leading law enforcement agencies and peak

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sport bodies have identified match-fixing and illegal sports betting, and other related forms of
unethical conduct, as posing a significant threat to the integrity of sport world-wide
(Clearinghouse sec. 3).
On the other hand, management corruption is non-competition focused decisions by
sporting bodies and sports officials and usually include host venues for important
competitions, allocation of rights for television, nomination for positions, and commissioning
construction works for sports arenas and other venues (Maennig sec. 2). The decision to host the
2006 Football World Cup in Germany could be considered management corruption because of
accurate accusations that the decision was helped along via the arrangement of financially
lucrative friendly games between FC Bayern Munich and teams from Thailand, Tunisia, Trinidad
and Malta. New news has recently been reported that Germany may have bribed its way to
hosting the 2006 FIFA World Cup by bribing four Asian representatives on FIFAs 24-man
executive committee to vote in Germanys favor (Smith par. 2). Since this is the most recent
information, the fact that Germany may have bribed its way into hosting the 2006 World Cup and
the corruption of FIFA is the topic story used in the online magazine Sports Talk. Along with
this, there have been allegations connecting to the allocation of the rights for the TV marketing,
of the 2002 and 2006 World Cup championship. Corruption is becoming a bigger and bigger
speedily increasing institution especially among officials. Maennig states that competition
judges and other officials are becoming involved in corruption more frequently whilst, in
contrast to previous eras, athletes and trainers are less often directly involved (sec. 16).
Professional sports are not the only ones is not the only level of athletics that is
corrupted. Collegiate sports draw almost as much attention as does professional events. Once
Sports Talk will start to evolve into a flourishing blogging website, the authors will also

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investigate and write articles about regarding collegiate sports. The intended audience of Sports
Talk is sports fanatics who enjoy all levels of sports and want to know what the latest news is. at
these levels. Of course, the website is called Sports Talk, so therefore multiple corrupted sports
will be listed and talked about reported on, not just soccer. With this being said, both competition
corruption and management corruption can also be seen throughout college sports in the United
States.
In 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who examine most of the bribery
cases, was investigating some criminal activity in San Diego and came across a scheme
where online gamblers were fixing some of the University of San Diego mens basketball
games. Thaddeus Brown, a former assistant coach, got received as much as up to $10,000 per
game, and he recruited the teams leading point guard, Brandon Johnson, to intentionally throw
games that USD was favored to win. In April 2011, after two years of conspiring, using
authorized wiretaps, physical surveillance, confidential informants, subpoenaed documents, and
interviews, the FBI had enough sufficient evidence to announce an indictment and conspiracy
against the people involved. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said tampering with sports events
strikes at the integrity of the games; this kind of betrayal is not merely disappointing-it is
criminal and worthy of prosecution (FBI par. 8). Along with what Duffy is saying, it is
disappointing knowing that some, if not most, of the athletic events seen on TV are fixed. When
you know the outcome of an event the outcome of a game is known, the central function of
sport is no longer fulfilled, the reputation of the sport is damaged, potential athletes (or their
parents mindful of the harmful effects of learning by watching) turn their back on sport, fans and
TV spectators attending rigged competitions or fixed matches are frustrated and sponsors and
municipalities cancel their support (Maennig sec. 6). Young athletes who are contemplating

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what college to go to attend to play their respective sport should be aware of any scandals that
have occurred in the past or present. If they are walking their way into an illegal betting ring,
they should know about be aware of it. Sports Talks intended purpose is to inform its readers of
scandals indignities such as the San Diego Basketball team scandal.
A type of management corruption can be seen in an academic fraud scandal with the
University of Minnesota mens basketball team. A former, part-time tutor for the team said she
wrote more than 400 term papers for at least eighteen Minnesota basketball players from 1993
to 1998 (Wells sec. 1). Along with violating the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) rule for academic dishonesty, the coach had also been giving the players cash on the
side to so they would mislead attorneys during the investigation. Armen Keteyian, who
investigated the fraud, says point-shaving scandals and academic fraud are two issues that cut
right to the heart of what college sports are all about today, and the integrity of the institution is
at stake (Wells sec. 1). In a more general idea, Creed Black, president of the Knight Foundation,
says that big money had corrupted university athletic programs (Wells sec. 8). With some
coaches earning more than one million dollars, the temptations are great to offer illegal
inducements to prospective athletes or to find illicit ways to keep them eligible, such as phantom
courses, surrogate test takers, and altered transcripts (Wells sec. 8).
Both competition corruption and management corruption is present in many sports at
different levels, especially in professional sports. Most upper level athletes and even some
managers are influential role models for growing kids and teenagers. Parents should be able to
know the type of person that their child is wanting thriving to be like; and if that person is
involved in an illegal business, parents need a place they can find information on these scandals.
With these types of cases, as the website Sports Talk develops into a more credible and more

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successful blog, many opportunities will arise for authors to report stories for the sports fanatics
and parents wanting to get receive information on new corruption scandals in sports world-wide.
Although Sports Talk will be mostly talking about corruption in different sports, the idea is not to
influence kids and parents to turn away from these sports, but instead to inform them on the
possible corruption within the competition and management in the higher levels. Stories of
corruption scandals and bribery deals should not be neglected. When the truth about these future
scandals is brought to light, the integrity of sports will be threatened by corruption and bribery in
all levels of sports, and Sports Talk is there to report about it.

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Original Citations
Asis, Adrian. "Top 10 Alleged Match-Fixing/Bribery Scandals in Sports History." TheRichest.
N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
"Crime in College Hoops." FBI. FBI, 20 May 2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
Hume, Chris. "Match-Fixing and Illegal Sports Betting." Clearinghouse for Sport. N.p., n.d.
Web. 28 Sept. 2015.
"Sports Bribery Law and Legal Resources." Law Info. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 27 Sept.
2015.

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New Citations
Jennings, Andrew. "Investigation Corruption in Corporate Sport: The IOC and
FIFA."International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2011th ser. 46.4 (2011): 38798.Atkins Library. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Maennig, Wolfgang. "Corruption in International Sports and Sport Management."European
Sport Management Quarterly 2005th ser. 5.2 (2006): n. pag. Atkins Library. Web.
2 Oct. 2015.
McNamee, Mike. "The Integrity of Sport: Unregulated Gambling, Match Fixing and
Corruption." Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 2013th ser. 7.2 (2013): n. pag. Atkins Library.
Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Singh, Puneet Pal. "How Does Illegal Sports Betting Work and What Are the Fears?"BBC News.
N.p., 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Smith, Geoffrey. "Did Germany Bribe To Win The Rights To Host FIFA's 2006 World
Cup?" Fortune Did Germany Bribe to Win Hosting Rights to FIFAs 2006 World Cup
Comments. N.p., 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Wells, Joseph T. "Corruption IN Collegiate Sports." Internal Auditor 57.2 (n.d.): n. pag.Atkins
Library. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Whysall, Paul. "Reflections on Ethics, Sport and the Consequences of
Professionalisation." Business Ethics: A European Review 2014th ser. 23.4 (2014): 41629. Atkins Library. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.