Francesco Baranca: "We risk returning to the times when playing in the office was a habit in Ukraine"

30.07.2023 13:00

Photo of UAF press service

At the start of the new football season, the head of the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee, Francesco Baranca, spoke about the control over the transmission of match data. Control over this process makes it possible to effectively oppose the organization of match-fixing — Ukraine's experience in this direction is actively studied by other countries.

At the same time, in an interview with the UAF press service, the Italian specialist expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the new data transfer scheme, which some clubs are trying to apply in the new season.

— A new football season is starting in Ukraine. You are personally present in Kyiv these days. What do you feel?

- I will not hide that I am excited. The second wartime championship is already starting, and it is thanks to the heroism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine! Let's hope that everything goes well - and above all, let's hope that this is the last championship in these conditions. We realize that football is only a small part of public life at such a dramatic moment, but if it can distract attention for even a second from the brutality of war, then it should. At the same time, I am very concerned about the situation surrounding the activities of the committee that I lead.

— It seems to us that last year in Ukraine went well in terms of the number of suspicious matches, and there is no reason to worry...

— Last year was really successful in this direction. We have monitored bets on 1035 matches in all competitions. At the same time, they applied the provision on stopping the transfer of bookmaker data only once and asked not to offer nine other matches for bets in advance, even before their start. During the year, we received only one report from UEFA regarding suspicious matches. It was about that match, from which we asked to stop the data transfer.

But I'm worried because the new league is starting in chaos in terms of fighting match-fixing, with the rights to data from football matches in the hands of the teams and still no contract with an ISP to transmit this data in a secure way.

This means that, at least in the opening matches, everyone can steal data with great pleasure for the organizers of fixed matches and representatives of companies that, in particular, come from the aggressor country.

- Aren't you making the situation more dramatic than it really is?

— Let's talk about the situation with controlled data and about the situation that existed many years before that. In 2020, the UAF became the first sports organization in the world to be able to sell data rights with the condition of stopping their broadcast in the event of suspicions of match dishonesty. Until that moment, the clubs were not worried about the situation of uncontrollability in this area. Moreover, for a period of time, the leagues had contracts with individual providers, and the amounts of such contracts were extremely low. I don't know why no one was concerned with this issue back then.

Despite this, we were able to establish effective cooperation in this direction, which gave us a tool to influence the placement of bets (namely, to stop this possibility in case of risks) and the possibility of implementing VAR in Ukrainian football.

During these years, the number of suspicious matches has been steadily decreasing, and from the point of view of our committee's work, it was very risky to change the system. Maybe not all the clubs clearly understood what exactly we did, but the situation started to improve and the clubs started to feel more relaxed in this area. Just remember how many scandals there were in the 2017/2018 season and how many there were in the last or the season before last. Thanks to this mechanism, we have protected clubs from direct liability for possible improper influence on the results of matches, focusing on the players.

Before the start of this season, we talked to the clubs to leave the system as it is, but the clubs refused and decided to exercise the rights themselves. As a result, the season has already started, the data rights have not yet been transferred, and our control mechanism, which has been key to our work for the past few years, has lapsed.

— Will the clubs sign a data transfer contract with the provider bring the situation back under control?

- So. The absence of this mechanism increases the risks to the integrity of the matches, and now the responsibility for this situation lies entirely with the clubs, as they try to realize the rights to the data. Unlike you, I am not so optimistic. I am grateful to the clubs for listening to the wishes of our committee, but they have neither the slightest competence nor, in my view, any interest in making our mechanism work. In such a situation, everything will go back many years...

Allow me one more remark. The Ukrainian championship has become attractive for provider companies and bookmakers because it is controlled, and the number of fixed matches has decreased significantly in recent years. Ukraine is the only country in the world that had such an effective control method. And now they are trying to return us to the times when playing "at the office" was a habit, it was the norm - such a bitter reality.

— The opportunity to earn money motivates clubs to independently sell data transmission rights...

— Of course, clubs, leagues, federations must have an economic return! I've fought and will fight for it, but you can't forget the fair part of the game. We were the first in the world to combine an effective method of struggle and profit, now we risk ruining everything.

— Individual clubs complain that they did not receive enough in the past, but now they are sure that everything will be better.

- Let's remove the veil from the past. As always, the numbers speak for themselves. Before we took matters into our own hands, the Premier League and Premier League had ridiculous contracts (we're talking about $10k a year), all the providers were unscrupulous, and some had contracts with the leagues for everything but data transfer ! Ukrainian football was devastated by a huge number of fixed matches.

Not everyone knows what efforts we have made to exclude the lower leagues from the quotation and try to put things in order. It seemed that the clubs and leagues then were not at all interested in fighting match-fixing and delegated everything to us. Now some of them are beginning to complain that we were somehow working incorrectly during that period. Has anyone decided that it is possible to make easy money without putting in any effort? But in life in general and in football in particular, unfortunately, this is impossible. The management of data transfer from football matches, which is only related to economic ambitions, will lead to a resurgence of the phenomenon of match-fixing. And at the same time — to the great satisfaction of providers who work for and with the aggressor state...

— What do you propose to do in case the clubs do not reach an agreement on this matter?

- There are not many options. I am of the opinion that the responsibility now lies with the clubs to maintain our joint achievements of the past years, and they must find a consensus.

At the same time, understanding the inevitability of problems in case of non-agreement between the clubs, I see no other options than to introduce temporary measures to accredit representatives of one provider on a free basis solely for the purpose of establishing control over the transfer of data and eliminating those dealers who begin to steal this data without any - what permission Inaction creates high risks.

Our key match-fixing and match-fixing committees - the Referee Committee and the Ethics and Fair Play Committee - have a duty to provide oversight. And we will do it, especially in conditions where some of the clubs are interested in leveling the safeguards of fixed matches. We must act and we will certainly ensure control.