A new law passed in the German Parliament’s lower house would subject players, coaches and referees convicted of match fixing to prison terms.
According to German media, the regulation makes it a crime to conspire to fix sporting events. Violations carry prison terms of up to three years and as much as five years in more serious cases.
“Because other measures have not worked, we have to confront such methods with the instruments available through criminal law,” German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a press statement. “In this way we will ensure that sports stand only for that which makes them so special—integrity and fair competition.”
The German Football Association’s national governing body and the German Football League both came out in support of the new law.
“This law is an important building block in efforts to protect the integrity of sports,” Reinhard Raubel, president of the German football league said in a press statement. “Football too will continue to do everything it can to combat betting fraud and match fixing.”
