Match-fixing as a social institution between premodernity and rationality

Abstract

Match-fixing has a long-lasting history in sport despite a wide range of measures to fight it. Its persistence can be explained by two interconnected aspects. First, deliberate underperforming in sports competitions covers a broad range of behaviours which are neither always illegal nor always illegitimate and depend on the immanent setting of a particular sports discipline. The delineation between still legal and already illegal forms of match-fixing, therefore, is rather a blurred line than a clear distinction. Second, the dense social networks that are symptomatic of sports organisations are vulnerable to corruption, especially to match-fixing. In these networks, individuals can gain undue power and influence onto others’ decisions. For both reasons, match-fixing should rather be understood as a cultural element of sport than solely as a threat to its integrity. Activities to fight match-fixing might improve sports but will certainly increase the revenues of those who monetarise it.