From 30 March to 1 April, Europol experts in sports corruption attended a conference on match-fixing in sports in Vilnius, Lithuania. The conference was hosted by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
The event brought together law enforcement specialists from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as representatives of the LFF, UEFA, the monitoring service Sportradar and the Lithuanian government. The conference enabled experts to share knowledge on match-fixing in sports as well as the most efficient ways of combating corruption. The event is part of the LFF's efforts in fighting match-fixing. The LFF has recently amended its club ownership and player registration rules to block individuals suspected of being involved in match-fixing.
Experts at Europol work with law enforcement authorities across the EU to identify links between suspicious matches and suspects, and to uncover the organised crime groups orchestrating these multi-million euro frauds against sport.
Europol supports the fight against sports corruption by analysing criminal intelligence, producing analytical reports, hosting operational meetings and deploying mobile offices and experts to provide on-the-spot assistance during law enforcement operations.
Over the past years, Europol has been involved in one of the most important sports fraud investigation ever - Joint Investigation VETO. This Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is comprised of Europol experts and teams from 13 European countries. VETO uncovered an extensive criminal network involved in the fixing of hundreds of matches. Europol facilitated the success of this investigation by providing crucial intelligence reports based on the analysis of over 13.000 e-mails and other materials.
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- Event