Francesco Baranka commented on match-fixing and illegal betting in Ukraine

The head of the UAF committee on ethics and fair play Francesco Baranka commented on the situation with match-fixing and illegal betting in Ukraine.

"In Ukraine we have almost defeated the practice of betting on match-fixing in soccer. The national championship resumed in August 2022, and since then there have been no reports of suspicious matches or events from UEFA.

This is a credit to the process of increasing transparency in soccer, as well as to the internal monitoring system, which allows us to intervene immediately as soon as we receive a signal. Thanks to the agreement with our TV provider, we can actually interrupt the live broadcast of a match immediately if it is suspected to be rigged. Therefore, at a dramatic moment for Ukraine, the soccer world sends us a message of hope and positivity.

I would like to point out that Russia, for example, consistently ranks second among the countries with the highest number of rigged matches and events, trailing only Brazil in 2022. It is indicative that some players who played in Ukraine but moved to the Russian championship during the war were involved in suspicious matches and attempts to organize them," said Baranka.