Massachusetts gaming regulators have agreed to indefinitely suspend betting on soccer overseen by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in the wake of a wide-ranging match-fixing scandal.
The CFA this week banned 43 people for life over allegations of match-fixing and other forms of corruption in the latest effort to weed out deceit in the country’s notoriously underperforming team sport.
Per the Associated Press, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that a two-year investigation uncovered a series of online gambling, match-fixing and bribery cases. Some 120 matches in domestic leagues were compromised by 128 criminal suspects, and 41 clubs were implicated in the investigation.
Of the 43 people banned for life, 38 were players, including three former Chinese national team players, and five were officials working for various clubs. Other players and officials were given shortened bans.
In a Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) meeting on Thursday, Sports Wagering Operations Manager Andrew Steffen told commissioners that his division was alerted to the match-fixing incidents by U.S. Integrity. The integrity monitoring company is still investigating and will share any further information with regulators.
Steffen noted that he considered the matter urgent as MGC-approved operators were offering bets on CFA-governed Chinese Super League matches as of Thursday morning.
Commissioner Nakisha Skinner added that “we have a responsibility to act on the information” available to them. Interim Chair Jordan Maynard and his fellow commissioners unanimously agreed to suspend betting on CFA-governed soccer temporarily as a matter of integrity protection until U.S. Integrity’s investigation is complete and the MGC reaches a final determination.
MGC finally holds roundtable on limiting sports bettors
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the MGC’s much-anticipated meeting to discuss the practice of limiting bettors finally got off the ground after the misfire in May in which operators declined to participate.
Compliance and counsel officers for numerous operators appeared to discuss the issue. Several of them argued that limiting impacts only an extremely small percentage of Massachusetts’ betting demographic.
There was no immediate action by the MGC, but commissioners expressed a desire to have more conversations about industry practices including in-game wagering and VIP programs.
