Fixing the fixers

摘要

IN 267AD Nicantinous and Demetrius, two teenage wrestlers, had reached the final bout in a prestigious competition in Egypt. Their fathers struck a deal. For the price of a donkey, Demetrius would "fall three times and yield". The signed contract is the earliest surviving record of a sporting competition being stitched up for financial gain.Today, match-fixing is a vast global enterprise (see page 51). The pickings are rich. Around $2tm is wagered on sport each year, mostly with online bookmakers who enable punters to evade national anti-gambling laws. Around one game in 100 is thought to be manipulated across a range of sports.