Match-fixing: Moral challenges for those involved

ABSTRACT

Match-fixing is a major ethical issue in sports. Although research interest in match-fixing has increased in recent years, we remain largely in the dark regarding how both betting- and non-betting-related match-fixing relate to the moral decision-making of those involved. Drawing on Rest’s theory of morality and on the perceptions of a large sample (n = 567) of participants in Flemish sports, this study indicates that most match-fixing incidents are non-betting-related, while moral motivation and associated challenges clearly differ according to the type of match-fixing. Therefore, each type of match-fixing requires different preventive measures.

Keywords:

• match-fixing
• moral decision-making
• sports ethics

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the editor of the journal and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions, as well as their colleagues Delfien Van Dyck and Ruben Brondeel for their advice regarding the data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The term “referees” refers to “linesmen,” “jury members,” and “officials” throughout this study.

² For the purpose of this study, the terms “ethics” and “morality” are considered synonymous.

³ There are 3073 soccer clubs in Flanders, which are recognized by the Flemish soccer federation (Voetbal Vlaanderen, 2018).

⁴ There are 454 tennis clubs in Flanders, which are recognized by the Flemish tennis federation (Tennis Vlaanderen, 2018).

⁵ There are 214 badminton clubs in Flanders, which are recognized by the Flemish badminton federation (Badminton Vlaanderen, 2019).