MOSCOW, (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin plans to introduce new legislation in Russia to fight corruption and match-fixing in sport that could send offenders to jail for up to seven years.
Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Friday the tough measures, which also include fines of up to one million roubles ($32,000), would be in place before the end of the year.
“We’re talking about a whole set of measures, aimed to fight falsification of results, illegal betting and match-fixing,” Mutko said. “Wire-tapping would be one of them.”
While Russia is getting ready to host soccer’s 2018 World Cup, experts say widespread match-fixing and corruption have been rife in the domestic game but rarely has anyone been convicted or brought to trial.
