New Zealand to criminalize match-fixing

New Zealand Cricket

Concerned with the alarming increase in the number of match-fixing cases in the game of cricket, the New Zealand government has decided to act against this issue. The government’s recent amendment to the Crimes Act 1961 includes match-fixing in order to give “greater certainty to law enforcement agencies and international sporting bodies”. According to the amendment, fixing will be dealt as a crime.

“New Zealand is not immune to the international risks of match-fixing, and we are taking pre-emptive steps to protect our well-deserved reputation for playing fair and the integrity of New Zealand sport,” New Zealand sport and recreation minister Murray McCully said.

“Today we have released the New Zealand Policy on Sports Match-Fixing and Related Corruption, and announced plans to amend the Crimes Act 1961 to ensure the most serious form of match-fixing is a criminal offence,” he added.

McCully stated that the new policy will serve as a groundwork for proper regulation of betting. “The national match-fixing policy provides a comprehensive framework for collaboration across government, the sport sector and the betting industry to address match-fixing risks to New Zealand sport. An important component of the policy is ensuring we have a strong legal framework around match-fixing, and ensuring it is subject to criminal sanctions,” he said.

With proper laws against fixing, sporting bodies will have the resources to deal with cases of match and spot fixing.

“We have therefore decided to amend the Crimes Act 1961 to ensure match-fixing is included. While match-fixing may already be covered by existing legislation, the decision to refer to it specifically in the Crimes Act gives greater certainty to law enforcement agencies and international sporting bodies,” he concluded.