The law passed by the Bundestag lower house of parliament makes it a crime to conspire to fix sporting events and sets out prison sentences of up to three years for any player, coach or referee found guilty of match fixing. In particularly serious cases, courts may hand out sentences of up to five years.
"Because other measures have not worked, we have to confront such methods with the instruments available through criminal law,” German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement to reporters. "In this way we will ensure that sports stand only for that which makes them so special; integrity and fair competition.”
The German football association (DFB) and the DFL, the company that operates the Bundesliga, released a joint statement praising the move.
"This law is an important building block in efforts to protect the integrity of sports,” DFL President Reinhard Rauball said. "Football too will continue to do everything it can to combat betting fraud and match fixing.”
DFB President Reinhard Grindel said the fact that the law made it possible for the authorities to order searches of premises or to conduct surveillance on suspected match fixers was a "very important step in efforts to protect the integrity of sports.”
Source: GMB / innovategaming.com / dw.com
