One Battle Won in the Fight against Match-Fixing

CAS 2017/A/4947 Ion Viorel v. Romanian Football Federation

Date of the decision: 2017-10-06

Arbitrator(s): Jacopo Tognon

By the recent award in CAS 2017/A/4947 Ion Viorel v. Romanian Football Federation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed the validity of disciplinary sanctions imposed on any person involved in match-fixing, in the scope of ensuring the integrity of competitions. The most significant aspect of this award, though, consists of the confirmation that match-fixing violations can be proven based on direct evidence, but also with the help of specialists’ reports, corroborated with other means of evidence.

In short, the Appeal Committee of the Romanian Football Federation (the RFF or the Respondent) rendered the Decision no. 44/2016 (the Appealed Decision).

The Appellant, Mr Ion Viorel (the Coach or the Appellant) was, at the time of the facts, the coach and part of management of the Romanian club Gloria Buzau - playing in the Second Division of the national championship.

In September 2014, within the UEFA Betting Fraud Detection System (BFDS), the company Sportradar AG (Sportradar) issued a report with regard to a certain football match, in which it concluded that the betting patterns combined with other elements described in the report “show clear indications that bettors had prior knowledge of the result” and that “this match is considered highly suspicious and most likely manipulated for betting purposes.”

The Committee decided to sanction the Coach, found guilty of...

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One Battle Won in the Fight against Match-Fixing

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