Match fixing to be criminalized

Corruption in sports or betting events will be punished criminally. A bill to this effect was approved by the Government on October 31, Info-Prim Neo reports. The influencing or instructing of a participant in a betting event to take steps that can have a vitiated effect on the given event, with the aim of obtaining advantages, will be punished with a fine of 20,000 to 40,000 lei or up to three years in jail. The same acts done by a trainer, sports agent, member of a jury or owner of a sports club will be punished with a fine of 40,000 to 100,000 lei or one to three years in prison. The punishment for fixed bets or agreements to arrange the result of a sports event will be a fine of 20,000 to 40,000 lei for private individuals and of 20,000 to 60,000 lei for legal entities. If the offense is committed by a criminal group, the fines will range from 40,000 to 100,000 lei. They will also face a penalty of two to four years’ imprisonment. Anticorruption Center head Viorel Chetraru said that these phenomena in Moldova are at an incipient stage, but they develop rapidly and legislation should be worked out to combat them.