Recommendation

The Law and Order Committee has examined the Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill and recommends that it be passed with the amendment shown.

Introduction

The bill seeks to amend the Crimes Act 1961 to clarify that match-fixing is a form of deception under section 240 of the Crimes Act. Currently, it is unclear whether match-fixing is covered by existing offenses. Match-fixing is a growing international problem, and this bill seeks to ensure that criminal sanctions are available to address match-fixing in New Zealand.

The bill is not designed to address every kind of match-fixing; it focuses on the most serious kind, where the intent is to influence a betting outcome. Non-legislative measures, such as codes of conduct developed by the governing sports bodies, address other forms of match-fixing.

Under the bill, anyone who obtained a benefit or caused a loss by engaging in match-fixing would commit an offence and be liable to a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

We recommend only one minor amendment to the bill.

Removal of potential defence

We recommend amending clause 4 of the bill by removing the words “otherwise than for tactical or strategic sporting reasons” from the definition of deception. This phrase could be confusing and might open up an unintended defence.

As introduced, the bill would provide a defence where a match was manipulated, at least in part, for tactical or strategic sporting reasons. This defence might apply even if the manipulator also acted with the intention of influencing a betting outcome. For example, a person who deliberately lost a match to gain an advantage in the next round but also bet on the result would escape liability. This would clearly be contrary to the intent of the bill. Removing these words would make it clear that an offence would be committed whenever a match was manipulated with the intention of influencing a betting outcome.