Europol: investigators identify 380 fixed football matches

[garbon]

I was bribed during t-ball.

[Kleves]

I was bribed during t-ball.

"Hey buddy, I'll give you $10 to stop leering at our kids while they play t-ball."

[DGuller]

I was bribed during t-ball.

"Hey buddy, I'll give you $10 to stop leering at our kids while they play t-ball."

 

[Eddie Teach]

[garbon]

I was bribed during t-ball.

"Hey buddy, I'll give you $10 to stop leering at our kids while they play t-ball."

Way to sexualize children.

[Admiral Yi]

...and the smaller the league, the easier to get away with it. The athletes are more likely to take bribes (harder to bribe a millionaire) and the league is under a lot less scrutiny.

...and the harder it is to place a bet big enough to generate a return on your bribe investment.  Bookies, legal and illegal, don't like to make big one way bets.  They try to split the action and live off the vigorish.

[Josephus]

...and the smaller the league, the easier to get away with it. The athletes are more likely to take bribes (harder to bribe a millionaire) and the league is under a lot less scrutiny.

...and the harder it is to place a bet big enough to generate a return on your bribe investment.  Bookies, legal and illegal, don't like to make big one way bets.  They try to split the action and live off the vigorish.

Obviously that's not the case.

From this article: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/opinion/2013/01/csa-cuts-ties-with-canadian-soccer-league.html

According to CSA and CONCACAF sources, Interpol told those in attendance that nearly $100 million had passed through legitimate betting houses, to be placed on Canadian Soccer League matches, the past three seasons. They held the CSL up as an example of how even little out-of-the-way leagues were being targeted in a major way.


And from the original article I posted. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/12/soccer-fixing-canada.html

An international match-fixing syndicate set its sights on a Canadian soccer league in hopes the lower-level games were far enough out of the spotlight that officials wouldn't suspect tampering, wiretaps obtained by CBC News suggests.
The Canadian Soccer League is a semi-professional league that runs in Ontario and Quebec.The Canadian Soccer League is a semi-professional league that runs in Ontario and Quebec. (Canadian Soccer League)

The syndicate targeted the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), a semi-pro league in Ontario and Quebec that serves as a feeder system for Canadian major league clubs.

I don't know how this works, but there is profit to be made from all this.

this might help:

Experts suggest the European crime syndicate concentrated on the obscure league in Canada because of recent trends in online betting.

"The betting industry is a global business. It's 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said Darren Small, the director of integrity at England-based Sportradar, a company that monitors sports gambling. "So the operators wish to offer a match for betting at any second of any part of the day."

Gamblers are not just betting on who wins the game, but by the number of goals scored, or even how many red or yellow cards will be handed out by the referee.

"A game in Canada may not be of any particular interest to a domestic audience," said Small. "But actually, abroad in Asia, in Europe, in other parts of North America, maybe in South America there may be an interest in that game because it is being offered live and there is an activity on it on the betting side."

Canadian Soccer League games are available on dozens of online gambling sites, which allow wagers of up to 150,000 Euros ($180,000 Cdn) on a single game.

[dps]

...and the smaller the league, the easier to get away with it. The athletes are more likely to take bribes (harder to bribe a millionaire) and the league is under a lot less scrutiny.

...and the harder it is to place a bet big enough to generate a return on your bribe investment.  Bookies, legal and illegal, don't like to make big one way bets.  They try to split the action and live off the vigorish.

Obviously that's not the case.

From this article: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/opinion/2013/01/csa-cuts-ties-with-canadian-soccer-league.html

According to CSA and CONCACAF sources, Interpol told those in attendance that nearly $100 million had passed through legitimate betting houses, to be placed on Canadian Soccer League matches, the past three seasons. They held the CSL up as an example of how even little out-of-the-way leagues were being targeted in a major way.


And from the original article I posted. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/12/soccer-fixing-canada.html

An international match-fixing syndicate set its sights on a Canadian soccer league in hopes the lower-level games were far enough out of the spotlight that officials wouldn't suspect tampering, wiretaps obtained by CBC News suggests.
The Canadian Soccer League is a semi-professional league that runs in Ontario and Quebec.The Canadian Soccer League is a semi-professional league that runs in Ontario and Quebec. (Canadian Soccer League)

The syndicate targeted the Canadian Soccer League (CSL), a semi-pro league in Ontario and Quebec that serves as a feeder system for Canadian major league clubs.

I don't know how this works, but there is profit to be made from all this.

this might help:

Experts suggest the European crime syndicate concentrated on the obscure league in Canada because of recent trends in online betting.

"The betting industry is a global business. It's 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said Darren Small, the director of integrity at England-based Sportradar, a company that monitors sports gambling. "So the operators wish to offer a match for betting at any second of any part of the day."

Gamblers are not just betting on who wins the game, but by the number of goals scored, or even how many red or yellow cards will be handed out by the referee.

"A game in Canada may not be of any particular interest to a domestic audience," said Small. "But actually, abroad in Asia, in Europe, in other parts of North America, maybe in South America there may be an interest in that game because it is being offered live and there is an activity on it on the betting side.”

Canadian Soccer League games are available on dozens of online gambling sites, which allow wagers of up to 150,000 Euros ($180,000 Cdn) on a single game.

Yeah, but the point is that there was already a considerable amount of betting action on that league, so a few people placing large bets on a particular game didn't set off any alarms with the bookies. 

But if the only betting action a bookie had taken on a particular small-time league were a few local people placing $10 or $20 bets, and all of a sudden a half-dozen pr so gamblers from overseas wanted to bet $180,000 on a particular team to win a particular game, the bookie would know something was up.  Even if there wasn't a fix on, just a bunch of wealthy friends getting drunk at a party and making a stupid wager, the bookie wouldn't want to take that action because he'd stand to lose a considerable amount.