Anatoly Peskov Decided to Fight Corruption in Professional Sports Decisively and Uncompromisingly, Using a Systematic Approach and International Experience.

Anatoly Peskov Decided to Fight Corruption in Professional Sports Decisively and Uncompromisingly, Using a Systematic Approach and International Experience.

Nothing stops the tireless leader of our organization Anatoly Peskov, not even the hot Russian summer, in his noble work to protect sports from any form of Evil in this sphere of human existence. He has prepared another textbook entitled "Corruption in Professional Sports". This scientific work updates the context, previously published by him in the textbook "Sport and Illegal Behavior" (Prospect Publishing House, 2016). In addition, the monograph contains a lot of new useful legal information, taking into account changes in Russian legislation as of March 2024. This textbook is written in an interesting, bold way and, undoubtedly, like the author's other works, will attract the attention of readers who care about the fate of Russian sports and Russian society in the Age of Change.

The author explores not only the origins of sports corruption, but also the general nature of corruption. In his opinion, corruption not only destroys the economy, morality and law and order, faith in the state and justice, but can also criminalize the consciousness of individual communities and even the entire society. As a result, in his opinion, in Russia in the early 90s there even appeared something like a kleptocratic state, where corruption was integrated into the vertical of power, and organized crime merged with the state apparatus and the oligarchy. Corruption, according to the author, is always a reaction of society to social injustice, a criminal way of solving the problem of redistribution and equalization of incomes of the population. It is no coincidence that corruption has become widespread in Russia among various segments of the population, where, in his opinion, social inequality has reached incredible heights. Today, almost 10% of Russians own 83% of the assets of the entire country, while in the USA - 76% and China - 60%. In terms of the number of super-rich people, modern Russia is ahead of Canada, Great Britain, France and Italy. At the same time, according to official data alone, 13.5 million people or almost every tenth Russian lived below the poverty line (2023). According to the author, an oligarchic model of capitalist development has developed in Russia, in which the concept of social justice is unlikely to be implemented. The author, being a person of left views, is convinced that the time of classical capitalism has passed and Russia in the Era of Changes, more than ever, needs a new social and economic inclusive model of state development aimed at restoring the principles of social justice and protecting the interests of all segments of the country's population. In addition, in his opinion, modern Russian society needs a new moral ideology, the revival and strengthening of moral principles that create the basis for the universal condemnation of corrupt officials and the nouveau riche who built their well-being on theft and bribes.

Professional sports, in the author's opinion, are a mirror image of the negative social and criminal processes that occur throughout Russian society. Corruption is also widespread here, and the problems of social justice associated with the incredible gap in income between elite and ordinary athletes and coaches are very acute. The author notes that not only many Russian top sports officials and famous athletes are involved in corruption in professional sports, but also a significant number of ordinary athletes, coaches, referees, parents of young athletes, heads of sports schools and clubs, regional and municipal sports federations. There are many illegal financial acts and bribes associated with the admission of juniors to sports schools, the transfer of athletes to other clubs, and admission to prestigious sports competitions. We also often see financial abuses by officials and managers associated with delays in salaries, non-payment of monetary compensation to athletes, the purchase of sports uniforms, and payment of accommodation and food expenses for athletes. This everyday corruption, in the author’s opinion, like rust, destroys the steel framework of Russian sports, created in Soviet times, and turns professional sports into a source of illegal enrichment for corrupt sports officials at all levels.

Corruption is not only a problem of Russian sports. Corruption in professional sports is spreading like a cancerous tumor all over the world, capturing new sports, involving the surrounding ecosystem. Politicians and businessmen from different countries are often ready to step over the law in order to hold international sports competitions in their countries. They present expensive gifts and bribes to officials of international sports organizations. Some corrupt officials, especially in the International Olympic Committee, are just waiting for these gifts. Moreover, representatives of organized crime often penetrate into leadership positions in international sports organizations, turn them into centers of corruption and money laundering, criminalize their activities, involve athletes, referees, coaches, sports managers and other representatives of professional sports in criminal activities. In support of his conclusions, the author shows numerous facts related to the criminal activities of the International Boxing Association (IBA), the International Biathlon Union (IBA), the International Athletics Federation (World Athletic), as well as the Russian federations of athletics and basketball. The monograph also contains facts about the participation of regional sports ministers and heads of the Russian Ministry of Sports in corruption crimes.

The author, studying the social phenomenon of corruption, comes to the surprising conclusion that there is no single understanding of the concept of corruption in international law. In different countries, the same acts are considered corrupt and non-corrupt. For example, in some countries, giving expensive gifts is allowed to maintain good business and friendly relations, while in other countries these gifts are considered corruption if they are associated with the intent to influence the adoption of a specific decision. In addition, the understanding of corruption largely depends on national traditions and customs, ideas about hospitality and respect for guests and the mentality of the population of specific countries. Therefore, the signatories of the United Nations Convention against Corruption recognized only certain types of corruption, giving each state the opportunity to go beyond the minimum standards and determine the concept and types of corruption at the legislative level.

The author pays considerable attention to the concept of officials contained in the current Russian legislation and the relevant resolutions of the Plenums of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. According to the author, any subject of professional sports can be an official in the Russian Federation: a sports doctor, a coach, an arbitrator, the head of a sports club, sports federation or league, any federal, regional or municipal sports official, a minister and even an ordinary athlete who is temporarily or permanently assigned any management functions. The investigator and the prosecutor will determine their official status in each specific case. According to Russian legislation, only officials can be punished for corruption.

The monograph contains a lot of useful legal information about liability for corruption crimes. For example, the reader will be interested to know that the subject of bribery, along with money, securities, and other property, can be the illegal provision of any property-related services. For example, purchasing a tourist package for the head of a sports federation or club at a reduced cost, participating in the construction and repair of his or her apartment, transferring a vehicle to him or her for temporary use, or even providing with sexual services will be considered an act of corruption. All corrupt officials should keep in mind, as the author notes, that they can be punished even for a simple promise or offer to receive or give a bribe. Illegally receiving small amounts of money from the parents of juniors by coaches and heads of children's sports schools can be also classified as petty bribery. The author warns of the criminal and administrative liability of heads of Russian sports federations who try to please international sports officials with property services and bribes. The perpetrators of such crimes face criminal liability, and the sports organizations in which they work face an administrative fine of up to 100 million rubles.

At the same time, the author notes that the heads of sports organizations will not be held liable for the transfer of material assets and the provision of property services to them if they did not receive any property benefit. In general, there will be no fact of bribery or commercial bribery unless it is proven that the suspects were officials. In particular, unless charters, constituent documents, orders, instructions, functional responsibilities, job descriptions are presented, where it is noted that they performed the powers of officials. In the author's opinion, acts related to possible provocative actions by law enforcement agencies, in particular, provocation of a bribe cannot be considered as criminally punishable. This applies to cases where the intent to commit such crimes would not have been committed without provocation by law enforcement officers. In this regard, the author refers to the relevant explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Much attention in the textbook is paid to the implementation of measures contained in the UN Convention against Corruption (2003), the UN Global Report on Corruption in Sport (2022) and other international legal documents on this issue. In particular, the author proposes, in accordance with UN recommendations, to create an anti-corruption unit in the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation to develop strategic and tactical measures to combat corruption in sports and coordinate this work together with law enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor General's Office throughout the country. In his opinion, special attention should be paid to the formation of the concept of good governance in all sports organizations in the country. In his opinion, transparent forms of governance, democratic and open elections of their leaders should be introduced into the activities of sports organizations. In addition, careful accounting and systematic audits should be established. In his opinion, it is also necessary to develop proper procedures for selecting personnel for positions in sports organizations vulnerable to corruption, and to set time limits for the heads of sports organizations in their positions. Besides, the author believes that candidates for these positions should be tested on "lie detectors". According to the author, the appearance of honest, incorruptible, motivated, competent and talented organizers in sports organizations is the main guarantee of a successful fight against corruption in professional sports. This is also consistent with the opinion of UN experts, who believe that the anti-corruption tone set at the top affects the norms, values ​​and activities of any sports organization, large or small. Such leaders, as the experts believe, should put an end to the culture of hushing up facts about corruption and violations of sports ethics.

The textbook pays special attention to the problem of combating money laundering in professional sports. The reader can learn a lot of interesting things about the methods of money laundering through raider takeovers of sports clubs and the artificial introduction of criminal money into the official circulation of sports organizations finance. In particular, about the role in this process of criminal leaders of organized crime, for whom sports have always been a platform for "refining" their image, establishing contacts with elite circles of power and society, as well as a way to obtain budget funds for the implementation of their criminal projects. Theft and abuse in professional sports, according to the author, are also facilitated by the uncontrolled flow of huge financial resources from Russian state natural monopolies for the purchase of expensive foreign players, high salaries of elite coaches and athletes, many times exceeding even the salaries of the highest officials of our state. Sports agents also parasitize on these state funds, participating in all sorts of criminal schemes for player transfers and often associated with organized crime. The author suggests following the example of FIFA to tighten financial control over the activities of sports agents, limiting their income by introducing progressive taxation. In addition, in his opinion, legislators should prohibit the allocation of funds from natural state monopolies and budget money of any level for these purposes. The Central Bank, in his opinion, in accordance with its criteria for sectoral risk assessment should classify professional sports as a high risk group, especially transactions related to the use of budgetary allocations, player transfers, gambling, charitable donations and sponsorship deals, construction of sports infrastructure facilities. According to the author, this will strengthen the fight against money laundering in professional sports.

The author also examines the problem of combating manipulation of sports competition results and illegal betting. In his opinion, fixed matches are capturing all kinds of sports at an incredible speed all over the world. At the same time, the key role in this negative process is played by international organized crime and bookmakers under its control. According to the author, the Russian mafia also controls some of the largest legal and illegal bookmakers today, which bring it colossal profits. According to his calculations, the official income of bookmakers is 4 times higher than the expenses associated with taxation and state fees for the development of mass and children's sports. According to the author, many ordinary people suffer from this business, sometimes pensioners and students, who become addicted to gambling, go bankrupt and often end their lives in drunkenness and poverty. Some of them are professional athletes. Is such a gambling business needed in Russia? The author believes that Russian civil society should answer this question.

How effective is the fight against fixed matches in Russia? The author comes to the conclusion that it is ineffective. In the 10 years since the introduction of criminal liability for manipulating the results of sports competitions in Russia, there has been only one case of conviction for this crime of a group of football players and a football team coach, and they were sentenced only to fines. At the same time, international electronic intelligence systems record a significant number of fixed matches in Russia. In addition, Russian sports officials have done everything, in the author's opinion, to delay the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention against Manipulation of Sports Competition Results and officially scheduled this event for 2024, i.e. 10 years after the signing of this Convention (2014). As a result, this Convention was not ratified for objective reasons due to Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe. As a consequence, in the author's opinion, Russian sports organizations are significantly far from the general international standards for combating fixed matches adopted long ago in other countries. In Russia, sports federations have not yet created units to combat corruption and match-fixing, a national electronic intelligence system for the early detection of match-fixing and illegal betting, also a system of material stimulus for those reporting such crimes. In this regard, the author suggests making up for lost time and, following the example of other countries, creating a national platform to combat manipulation of the results of sports competitions. In addition, in his opinion, it is necessary to develop a joint legal mechanism for the actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation together with the Unified Regulator of Gambling, which would significantly increase the efficiency of work on the detection and investigation of these crimes. The monograph contains specific proposals on this issue.

The author could not leave without consideration the problem of corruption and embezzlement in the construction of sports facilities during the preparation of large-scale sports competitions. The author notes that this is a global problem and has occurred in many countries where such competitions were held (South Africa, Brazil, India, etc.), including the Olympic Games (2014) and the FIFA World Cup (2018) in Russia. According to the author, the fight against embezzlement and corruption at the Olympic Games in Sochi was not effective enough and not all criminals were brought to criminal responsibility in a timely manner. The author confirms this with statistics and specific facts. As a result, this criminal story was repeated at the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018, where corruption and embezzlement occurred during the construction and reconstruction of 11 out of 12 new stadiums. The author suggests using the experience of China and other countries in the fight against corruption at sports construction sites. According to the author, financial transparency of funds spent, openness of tenders and auctions, public reporting on the results of external audits, public control over the spending of budget funds are an important tool in the fight against corruption and embezzlement at sports construction sites. The author proposes to establish mandatory public examination of projects for large-scale sports facilities at the legislative level and to hold public hearings on the feasibility of planned expenditures for these purposes. In addition, in his opinion, a system of public control over the organization of tenders (auctions) for the selection of contractors (performers) should be created.

In conclusion, the author notes that countless scientific monographs, many good laws and other useful initiatives in the fight against corruption can’t solve the problem without will of civil society. The author believes that in the Age of Change and existential existence of the world, people must wake up and start fighting Evil in all its manifestations themselves, not relying too much on the authorities and corrupt officials. Positive changes will begin to happen only when, as he believes, we all understand and realize that we ourselves must change in order to defeat corruption and other vices of humanity. The author is full of optimism and desires for a positive change in our imperfect world. He is still naive as ever. However, we don’t know why, but we all want that his naive thoughts to be realized, and we would begin to live in a more honest and fair world. Let’s wish further creative success to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of our organization, Anatoly Peskov, in his noble mission to change our world for the better.

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