Bans have been dolled out to 80 professional floorball players by the Finnish Floorball Federation Competition and Disciplinary Group (KKR) after an investigation found multiple violations of betting rules.
The scandal, which was first revealed back in June by Finnish government-backed betting company Veikkaus, was subject to oversight by the Finnish Centre for Integrity in Sports (SUEK).
There was specific focus on insider training in two matches. A host of players, coaches, and team staff, all of whom were accused of breaking rules designed to protect sporting integrity. The findings were published on Wednesday December 3 and revealed that some 115 individuals were questioned in the investigation.
Seven cases were dismissed due to exceeding time limits, while a further 20 were thrown out as they did not break the guidelines in place. However, 80 players have been banned as a result of the ruling, with 73 forbidden from participating until January 28 2026 and a further seven forbidden from competing until 28 February 2026.
Case represents a “clean slate” for the sport
Reacting to the case, Veikkaus said that the case represents a positive new beginning for floorball, especially with the most serious accusation of match-fixing proving unfounded.
Mikko Lahti, director of risk management and security at Veikkaus, was pleased with the outcome. He said: “According to investigations, the prohibited betting in floorball has been extensive and systematic. Now that the penalties have been handed out, it is a good time to start from a clean slate. The acts have been serious, but the investigation has not found any evidence of our biggest concern, possible match manipulation. That is a very important matter.”
Match manipulation, or match fixing, is considered a much more serious matter than betting on the sport. Match manipulation affects the game itself. A betting violation affects compliance with betting rules. The former undermines competitive integrity and can involve corruption, while the latter is usually a rule-breaking issue unless it escalates into manipulation.
Offending players to remain anonymous
Some eyebrows have been raised at the decision not to reveal the identities of those involved in the betting breach, which ultimately came from the chairman of the Finnish Floorball League, Olli Rauste.
A statement from the federation said: “Our conclusion is that from a legal perspective, the arguments for non-publication are strong and are clearly based on the current EU interpretation of data protection. After extensive consideration, our board of directors unanimously decided not to publish the names.The public shame caused by publishing the names would be a disproportionate additional punishment. It would not be responsible in any sense.”
This decision is not without precedent in worldwide sport. Earlier in the year, the Texas athletic department self-reported five NCAA violations involving five of its college athletes. The identities of each were kept under wraps in the reporting of the case.
Global cases of match-fixing appear to be on the rise
Sporting integrity appears to be under attack across all sports around the world at the moment. In Turkey, more than 1,000 officials, players, and club workers were arrested after an internal audit by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).
In the USA, an FBI sting operation led to the arrests of several notable current and former NBA players and coaches, including Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. In the MLB, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, were indicted last month on charges including conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering.
In a 2024 newsletter from criminal consultancy firm World Of Crime, editor Chris Dalby suggests sports like floorball are at increasing risk of getting caught up in match manipulation activity.
He argues: “Match-fixers are equal-opportunity criminals. If there’s money to be made fixing a match or competition, any match in any sport, they’ll be there. The two-tier match-fixing enforcement system has become entrenched.”
“More information-sharing across sports is essential. Match-fixing networks rely on constant, instantaneous communication about which matches in which leagues are to be betted on and in which circumstances. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the issue, there has been precious little progress in systematising revelations about match-fixing, especially among smaller sports that can better avoid scrutiny.”.
He calls for the democratization and generalization of AI to help fight the scourge of match fixing, writing: “Sportradar attributed the detection of 977 suspicious matches to AI in 2023, a 123% increase from the year prior. 74% of all suspicious matches detected by Sportradar were done so through AI.”
Whether the influx of high-profile match manipulation cases in the mainstream media reinvigorates the fight against match-fixing remains to be seen, but recent news items should sharpen the minds of the guardians of these sports for future generations.
References
- iGaming Business: https://igamingbusiness.com/sports-betting/finnish-floorball-players-banned-suspicious-betting/
- Next.io: https://next.io/news/betting/finnish-floorball-figures-broke-betting-ban/
- World Of Crime: https://www.seasonsofcrime.com/p/many-sports-left-behind-in-global
