The prevention of manipulation of sports competitions is an important part of FINCIS’ activities. Manipulation of sports competitions means deceitfully influencing the progress or result of a competition or game. As a phenomenon, manipulation of sports competitions threatens the very core of sports. In Finland, the prevention of manipulation of sports competitions includes cooperation between the sports community, the government-owned betting company, the police and judicial authorities.
The methods of preventing manipulation of sports competitions can be divided into three themes, which are rules and legislation, raising awareness and improving and monitoring resources and intelligence and investigations.
The purpose of training and educating about manipulation of sports competitions is to provide resources for identifying and addressing the phenomenon through raising awareness of manipulation. The phenomenon can be prevented more efficiently if it can be identified. The goal is to ensure that all sports stakeholders have the required up-to-date information about the manipulation of sports competitions.
It is particularly important to focus these efforts in sports where manipulation of sports competitions is prevalent and to young athletes, who are in a more vulnerable position than other athletes, according to studies. An additional attractive target for manipulation of sports competitions are referees who have a lot of power to influence the process of matches. It is important to remember that manipulation of sports competitions is a phenomenon that extends beyond top-level sports. The majority of cases of manipulation in Europe and the Nordic countries are targeted at lower leagues and smaller competitions.
Education services available by request
FINCIS provides training services related to manipulation of sports competitions to its key target groups, including top-level athletes, young athletes aiming to become top-level athletes, coaches, sports federations, referees and player associations.
Education services related to the manipulation of sports competitions are free for:
- sports federations,
- institutions (sports-oriented secondary schools and upper secondary level units, sports academies, professional degrees in sports),
- the Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee,
- referees,
- player associations and
- key authorities and partners.
All other education and training service requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis. If a sports club is requesting our training and education services, the typical fee for these services is EUR 300. The fees for sports clubs with international-level athletes are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The fee for these services provided to other parties is EUR 500, invoiced by FINCIS afterwards.
In the training and education sessions, the age, previous knowledge of the subject and role in sports of the participants and the client’s requests concerning the content of the sessions are taken into account. The recommended time to be reserved for these sessions is 1–1.5 hours.
You can submit a request by contacting the Education Manager. A request for these services must be submitted at least three weeks prior to the event.
Report on the prevention of manipulation of sports competitions
The part of a series of publications by FINCIS titled Sopimaton lopputulos? (Unfair result?) is a report on the prevention of manipulation of sports competitions. The report is a source of information that provides all parties involved in sports with practical operating models on how to prevent the phenomenon. The report describes the nature, risk factors, effects and different ways of manipulation of sports competitions in a detailed manner. The report also covers extensively the issues behind manipulation of sports competitions, such as corruption, organised crime and the growth of international betting markets. At the end of this latest report based on Finnish and international literature and expert views, practical guidelines for federations, organisations and athletes on how to prevent the manipulation of sports competitions are presented.
