Germany passes new match-fixing, betting fraud law

Germany’s lower house of parliament has voted to pass a new law against match-fixing and betting fraud activities.

According to DW.com, the regulation will now make it a crime to conspire to fix sporting events, with players, coaches and referees that partake in such activities facing up to three years in prison.

However, should the courts deem a certain case particularly serious, the guilty parties could face a jail sentence of up to five years.

“Because other measures have not worked, we have to confront such methods with the instruments available through criminal law,” German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

“In this way we will ensure that sports stand only for that which makes them so special; integrity and fair competition.”

Both the German Football Association (DFB) national governing body and the German Football League (DFL), which operates the country’s top-tier Bundesliga club competition, have given their backing to the new law.

DFL president Reinhard Raubal said: “This law is an important building block in efforts to protect the integrity of sports.

“Football too will continue to do everything it can to combat betting fraud and match fixing.”

Related article: ESSA cites 130 cases of suspicious betting activity in 2016