Cheating In The Olympics

Robertson admitted there were serious concerns that shadowy underworld organisations could easily infiltrate London 2012. Result fixing has now overtaken doping as the biggest threat to athletics: “At some stage over the next two or three years, we will have some sort of betting scandal in some sport. I just hope it’s not the Olympics.”

The minister pointed to last year’s Pakistani cricket spot-fixing scandal as an example of sport’s vulnerability to criminal influences, but that particular episode was relatively small fry when compared to what’s been happening elsewhere in the sporting world. 

Over in Italy, a still unravelling match-fixing and illegal betting story involving players from lower leagues and on the fringes of the country’s top division. As the scale of the scandal continues to unfold, it’s becoming clear that syndicates in the Far East have been linking up with criminal gangs in Europe. There’s a huge, global network out there. And they know exactly who to target.

While the Pakistan cricketers were fairly well paid, it’s generally those athletes (be they footballers, cricketers, long jumpers, whatever) who rarely enjoy great successes, who struggle to find sponsors and are generally off the average armchair fan’s radar, that are the most vulnerable to approaches from criminals. 

Robertson’s spot on when he says that contamination of the Olympics, be they in London or anywhere else, will taint the event beyond any hope of salvation. These days few of us believe in the wholesome purity of the Olympic ideal, but the viewing public still has to believe that what they’re watching is clean and true.

Doping always feels like the ultimate betrayal. Accepting a bribe to fix the outcome of a race is surely much worse. We still like our athletes to be inspiring, to do things us mere mortals could never hope to achieve. Take that bit of magic away and we might as well be watching the wrestling (and plenty would probably prefer that).

The International Olympic Committee has a long-established department who track the movements of the gambling market (legal or otherwise), working alongside Interpol and various national police forces. The government’s decision to create a specialist unit has prompted the usual fuming reaction from Telegraph readers worried about the cost to the taxpayer. 

And they’ve certainly got a point, bless them. However, you do have to applaud the government’s desire to at least try and do something. Because, let’s face it, whether we wanted the games here or not, the Olympics are going to cost us all a small fortune, anyway. 

We’ve already got the (ongoing) face-off between the British Olympic Association and the international athletics community over the UK’s unblinking stance on doping. Yes, it’s a bit of a long shot, but if we can now also be seen to be equally tough on the threat of result-fixing, London 2012 might just be remembered as the games when a genuine attempt was made to protect the sport’s credibility.

And that would be quite a legacy, wouldn’t it?