New Zealand to declare match-fixing a crime

2015 World Cup co-hosts to incorporate law in time for mega event

WELLINGTON: New Zealand said on Monday it will make match-fixing a specific crime for the first time to ensure sport remains corruption-free as the country prepares to co-host next year's Cricket World Cup.

Sports Minister Murray McCully said that in recent years, some sporting codes had been targeted by international criminal syndicates "seeking to gain unfair advantage to profit from sports betting".

"These activities compromise athletes and tarnish sport," he said, announcing the creation of a new crime of match-fixing, with a maximum penalty of seven years behind bars.

McCully said that while some elements of match-fixing would have been covered by existing crimes such as fraud, they were not designed to deal specifically with sports.

He believed the new crimes would give greater certainty to sports bodies combating match-fixing, but stressed the move was preventative and there was no evidence of a problem in New Zealand.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2014.

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