The Cheat Sheet is the Sports and Crime Briefing’s weekly guide to match fixing, illegal betting, corruption, safeguarding and criminal cases across sport. Organised by sport and country, it gives you the news, the background and links to the reporting behind each story.
Manchester City Financial Case
Commission finds City’s accounts distorted by more than £900 million
Manchester City inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, an independent commission has found. Its findings, published by the Premier League on 29 September, describe owner funding presented as sponsorship income and other arrangements concealing the club’s finances. City denies wrongdoing and has appealed. Punishment will be decided separately after the commission upheld all the financial charges.
Football regulator signals possible scrutiny of City’s owners and executives
England’s Independent Football Regulator says the City findings raise serious issues and could inform assessments of the suitability of owners, directors and executives. Chair David Kogan said on 30 September that it would use its powers where there was clear evidence of individual wrongdoing, but would await developments in the ongoing case. The regulator’s powers concern who runs clubs, alongside the Premier League’s disciplinary powers.
Etihad seeks legal advice after rejecting implications of City findings
Manchester City’s main sponsor, Etihad Airways, is seeking legal advice after saying the Premier League’s handling of the commission findings damaged its reputation. The airline denied involvement in improper commercial arrangements and said it had never been contacted during the process or given a chance to provide evidence. Its 30 September statement reaffirmed support for City, whose stadium and shirts carry the Etihad name.
Manchester City appeals financial ruling and alleges material errors
Manchester City lodged its appeal against the commission’s financial ruling on 1 October, arguing that it contains material errors of law, principle and fact. The Premier League confirmed receipt the next day. City maintains that its evidence demonstrates its innocence. A separate appeal board will review the challenge in private, while punishment remains undecided following the findings on financial reporting, sponsorship income and cooperation with investigators.
UAE officials reportedly warn City punishment could affect UK investment
Emirati officials warned Britain that punishment of Manchester City could weaken Abu Dhabi’s appetite for future UK investments, Bloomberg reported on 2 October, citing people familiar with private talks. The UAE has committed about £30 billion to Britain, with an investment summit planned this month. City is controlled by Sheikh Mansour, a senior member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, and is appealing the commission’s financial findings.
Burnham’s City comments prompt demands to disclose meetings and hospitality
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s praise for City’s Abu Dhabi owners has prompted demands to disclose his meetings with them and any hospitality he received. He told the BBC on 30 September that he would be concerned if they sold the club, citing their investment in Manchester, but said he would not intervene. Downing Street subsequently stressed the disciplinary process’s independence. The Liberal Democrats requested the disclosures on 2 October.
FA considers action following City commission findings
The Football Association is examining the City findings and says it will take action where appropriate, describing the decision as having significant implications for the game’s integrity. Its 2 October statement said it would monitor developments while Premier League proceedings continue. The FA has disciplinary powers over clubs and individuals separate from the league’s, although it normally waits for league proceedings to finish before deciding whether to act.
FA considers action following City commission findings
The Football Association is examining the City findings and says it will take action where appropriate, describing the decision as having significant implications for the game’s integrity. Its 2 October statement said it would monitor developments while Premier League proceedings continue. The FA has its own disciplinary powers over clubs and individuals.
Football
Canada
Former Ajax FC executives charged over alleged C$650,000 fund diversion
Two former executives of Ontario’s Ajax FC face fraud and breach of trust charges over more than C$650,000 allegedly diverted from the football club in 2023–2024. Durham police named Vicki Scott and Richard Karikari, with additional allegations involving proceeds of crime. Both were released on undertakings. The club says neither has been involved with it since 2024.
France
Mbappé loan disclosed in corruption inquiry into France’s former police liaison
France’s former national team police liaison Mohamed Sanhadji reportedly received €215,000 from players in 2024, including a €120,000 loan from Kylian Mbappé. New reporting also describes Patrice Evra offering €10,000 for 80 Champions League final tickets. Sanhadji was placed under judicial investigation in September over alleged corruption, influence peddling and other offences. His entourage declined to comment on the new disclosures.
Greece
Panserraikos and Volos docked points over alleged match manipulation
Panserraikos and Volos have been handed four-point and three-point deductions respectively over their two 2024/25 relegation play-off fixtures, according to Greek reports. The football federation’s ethics proceedings followed player Daniel Sundgren’s public allegations of manipulation and an investigation by the national sports integrity platform. Panserraikos disputed the evidence and announced an immediate appeal, saying it expected the case to be rejected at the next stage.
Japan
Grooming expert testifies at trial of coach accused of abusing 17 boys
A criminal psychology expert told a Fukui court how a coach’s authority and a child’s trust can shape responses to abuse, including continued loyalty to the accused. The testimony came in the trial of former football coach Katsumi Fujisawa, accused of abusing 17 boys aged seven to twelve between 2017 and 2024 and making recordings. The expert examined grooming and the relationships between coaches and young players.
Netherlands
Fake lottery licence obtained in Quick Boys’ name is revoked
Someone impersonating Quick Boys’ chair obtained a Dutch lottery licence in the football club’s name and linked it to eight lottery websites. The gambling regulator has revoked the licence and referred the suspected fraud to police. Quick Boys never applied for it and was identified as a victim.
Spain
Police estimate €3.9 million allegedly diverted from football and futsal clubs
A police report estimates that Ramón Lázaro allegedly diverted €3.9 million from Tudelano football club and Ribera Navarra futsal club between 2022 and 2024, according to Diario de Navarra. Investigators describe transfers to personal accounts and spending on business expenses. The inquiry began with suspicions that he paid Palma Futsal players €100,000 to lose a May 2024 match. Lázaro has exercised his right not to testify.
UEFA receives Real Madrid’s dossier on Barcelona’s Negreira payments
Real Madrid has submitted a dossier to UEFA about Barcelona’s payments to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former deputy head of Spain’s referees committee. UEFA confirmed that the documents had reached the inspectors handling its investigation. Madrid requested an urgent conclusion and offered to cooperate with the inquiry into payments made while Negreira held his refereeing role.
Mayor to give evidence in case over secret recordings of 51 footballers
Villaescusa’s mayor and a sports management representative will give evidence as potentially liable parties in the case against a sports worker accused of secretly recording 51 female footballers, including minors. A preliminary hearing ended without an agreement; the parties have 30 days to reach one before a May 2027 trial. Prosecutors are seeking prison terms totalling 148 years over recordings allegedly made in 2024.
Turkey
448 club officials referred for discipline over alleged betting
The Turkish Football Federation has referred 448 current and former club officials to its disciplinary board over allegations that they placed bets while holding office. The referrals cover officials associated with Süper Lig and First League clubs, Turkey’s top two divisions. The referrals follow a review of betting activity during five years of service.
Refereeing chief and four others remanded in criminal investigation
Turkey’s refereeing chief Ferhat Gündoğdu and four other suspects have been remanded in custody following police arrests in a criminal investigation involving referees. Two other suspects were released under judicial controls. TRT reports suspected ill-treatment, document forgery, breach of trust and unlawful acquisition of personal data.
Across sports
Albania
Eight arrested in raids on suspected betting premises near Tirana schools
Albanian police arrested eight people after finding six premises near Tirana schools where sports bets were allegedly placed through mobile phones. Operation Barriera led to the seizure of nine phones and a recording device. Those arrested included two employees and six people police said were betting. Officers referred the case to prosecutors.
Brazil
Brazil targets 10,435 betting domains as customer withdrawal deadline approaches
Brazil has referred 10,435 betting domains for blocking as enforcement expands after a measure ending regulated fixed-odds betting. The justice ministry says customer balances fell by R$652.6 million, leaving R$1.453 billion to be returned. Customers must request withdrawals by late 5 October, ahead of sites and apps ceasing operations the next day. The latest blocking figure covers domains referred between 25 September and 1 October.
Brazil creates specialist illegal betting and match manipulation units
Brazil is creating investigative divisions dedicated to illegal betting and manipulation of sporting results under Decree 13.131, published on 1 October. The reorganisation also establishes a permanent central structure for money laundering investigations and asset recovery within the organised crime and corruption directorate. The justice ministry announced the changes as it expanded betting enforcement.
India
Investigators examine ₹2,000 crore in suspected betting-linked overseas transfers
Indian investigators suspect betting networks moved more than ₹2,000 crore overseas by presenting transfers as investments in technology and artificial intelligence companies, The Economic Times reports. An Enforcement Directorate inquiry into Parimatch has reportedly identified more than ₹200 crore within the wider sum. Investigators are examining companies, nominal directors and inflated valuations to establish whether purported investments were being used to move betting proceeds abroad.
Pakistan
Balochistan investigators seek records for PKR2.15 billion in sports allocations
Balochistan’s anti-corruption authority has requested spending and procurement records in a preliminary inquiry into alleged irregularities in sports programmes and events during 2024–2026. Reports put the allocations under examination at PKR2.15 billion. Investigators want approvals, payment vouchers, tender documents and reconciliations to establish how the money was used.
Philippines
244 foreign nationals detained in raids on suspected offshore gambling operations
Philippine authorities detained 244 foreign nationals in raids on suspected offshore gambling operations in Siay and Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay. Immigration, investigative and military agencies seized computers, phones and SIM cards at the sites. Officials announced deportation proceedings and said they were examining possible trafficking. The raids come after the country’s ban on offshore gaming operations.
United Kingdom
Investigation reveals SIS contract with offshore gambling company
Sports data supplier SIS signed a 2022 agreement with Santeda International covering racing and esports data and a share of customers’ losing bets, The Guardian has revealed. Santeda is associated with brands alleged to target British customers unlawfully, although the contract prohibited UK use. SIS says it checks licensing and compliance. Entain says it raised concerns about the relationship.
United States
Nevada indicts William West Roberts over alleged offshore sports betting business
A Nevada grand jury has indicted William West Roberts over an alleged illegal sports betting business and money laundering following a multi-year investigation. The state gaming regulator says wagers were accepted through a Costa Rica-based website, identified in reporting as EZWIN247. The indictment follows Roberts’s April arrest over the suspected operation. He disputes the allegations against him.
American football
United States
NFL suspends 49ers owner Jed York for six games and fines him $500,000
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York has been suspended for six games and fined $500,000 under the NFL’s personal conduct policy following his August arrest. He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and possession of criminal tools after prosecutors amended an initial prostitution charge. York accepted the league’s decision. Three games he has already missed count towards the suspension, allowing his return after the 19 October game.
Texas school coach resigns after arrest on child sexual assault charges
Aubrey High School assistant football and powerlifting coach Wesley Huber has resigned after his arrest on charges involving sexual assault of a child, child sexual abuse material and an improper educator–student relationship. The Texas school district says it placed him on administrative leave before accepting his resignation. Huber was released on $30,000 bond.
Athletics
Iran and South Korea
Iran seeks transfer of athletes jailed in South Korea for sexual assault
Iran has begun legal procedures to bring home two athletes serving four-year prison sentences in South Korea for sexual assault, athletics federation president Ehsan Haddadi says. Their convictions were upheld on appeal in June. Haddadi also announced the return of an athlete and coach who were separately acquitted, saying the coach had continued directing training remotely.
Baseball
Japan
Four arrested over alleged betting on school baseball tournaments
Osaka police have arrested four people, including suspects linked to organised crime, over alleged betting on Koshien high-school baseball tournaments in 2024 and 2025. Investigators say customers were recruited through restaurants and social media, with odds circulated and bets taken in ¥1,000 units. Around ¥1.84 million in stakes was reported across four tournaments. Police are also investigating 25 customers alleged to have taken part.
United States
Baseball coach dismissed as two former students come forward
Two former students have come forward as investigators examine allegations against Colbert Heights baseball coach and teacher Eli Cain Fuller. His arrest on electronic solicitation charges, with court reporting also describing a sexual abuse charge, led the Alabama school board to dismiss him from coaching and begin terminating his teaching contract. The sheriff is now investigating the new accounts and whether anyone failed to report earlier concerns.
Basketball
Japan
Kagawa president resigns after player’s arrest on assault and theft suspicions
Kagawa Five Arrows president and general manager Naoto Ikuoka resigned following player Gary Hamilton Kodera’s arrest on suspicion of indecent assault and theft. The club announced the management changes on 30 September, after terminating Kodera’s contract on 27 September, and said it was cooperating with police. Kodera partly denied the allegations, saying the contact was consensual. Ikuoka remains a director, with interim executives taking over.
United States
Todd Leary gets probation and repayment order in basketball coaching fraud
Former Indiana University basketball player and broadcaster Todd Leary has been sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to repay $5,000 after pleading guilty to felony fraud. A parent paid him to coach his son and help fund an AAU youth basketball team, a training facility and equipment, according to court reporting. The promised plans were never fulfilled. Leary entered his guilty plea in May.
Boxing
Thailand
Thai activist arrested in billion-baht boxing gambling investigation
Thai activist Atchariya Ruangrattanapong has been arrested in an investigation into alleged illegal boxing gambling, fraud, computer offences and money laundering. Police say the suspected network handled more than THB1 billion and are also examining the use of donations to his association. They sought his remand following the arrest. Atchariya denies the allegations and says he can explain the transactions investigators have questioned.
Cricket
India
Five arrested as police raid suspected cricket betting operation
A raid on a flat in Kharar, Mohali, led to five arrests and the seizure of 24 phones, four laptops and ₹107,000 in cash in a suspected cricket betting operation. Police also reported finding SIM and ATM cards, false identity documents and purported press credentials.
Two arrested over alleged India–West Indies cricket betting
Nagpur police arrested two men accused of accepting online bets on an India–West Indies cricket match from a house in New Suraj Nagar. Officers seized phones, a tablet and ₹17,500 in cash during the raid. The devices and other property brought the total reported seizure value to ₹105,000.
Police trace digital payments in suspected cricket betting operation
Raigarh police say a man accepted online cricket bets through his phone, collected stakes through India’s UPI digital payments system and passed the money to a bookmaker. Officers arrested the suspect during Operation Ankush and seized his phone. Investigators are seeking the bookmaker and tracing the payment chain, with offences registered under Chhattisgarh gambling legislation.
Three acquitted after prosecution fails to establish Big Bash betting case
Three men prosecuted over alleged betting on Australia’s Big Bash League have been acquitted by a Chandigarh court because the electronic evidence was insufficient. The case followed a December 2021 raid, but investigators never sent the seized phones and other devices for forensic examination. Prosecutors also failed to produce the match schedule needed to support their account of the cricket betting allegedly taking place.
Pakistan
Rizwan questioned as investigators examine his phone in betting inquiry
Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan appeared before cybercrime investigators on 2 October for questioning and forensic analysis of his phone, seized during the team’s tour of England. The inquiry reportedly concerns online betting and leaks of dressing-room information. Rizwan has asked for written details of the allegations and the return of his phone, saying earlier notices and court proceedings had described the investigation differently.
Fencing
United States
Court papers detail allegations against suspended fencing coach
Newly reported court papers describe allegations involving messages and physical contact between fencing coach Jamie Buchas and a 14-year-old. Griswold Public Schools says he is on administrative leave and has no contact with its students or programmes; the alleged misconduct involved a minor outside the Connecticut district. Buchas was arrested in July and made ineligible by USA Fencing in September. His lawyer says the allegations remain unproved.
Field hockey
India and Japan
Hockey official denies misconduct after early Asian Games departure
Indian hockey official Gurinder Singh Sangha left the Asian Games in Japan after reported sexual misconduct complaints involving an umpire and hotel staff. Sangha denies wrongdoing and says he returned because of family circumstances. Hockey India sources say any further action depends on a report from the Asian Hockey Federation.
Gymnastics
Germany
Federation agrees €60,000 settlement with dismissed Stuttgart coach
A coach dismissed amid the Stuttgart gymnastics abuse scandal has reached a €60,000 employment settlement with the Schwäbischer Turnerbund. The agreement retrospectively ends his employment on 30 June 2025 without attributing fault to either side. The federation withdrew the allegations underlying his dismissal within the settlement and agreed not to oppose coaching outside its premises. Dismissed in January 2025, he challenged the decision before the regional labour appeal court.
Lebanon
Five held in Lebanese gymnastics federation invoice investigation
A Beirut investigating judge has issued detention warrants for four former Lebanese Gymnastics Federation members and an administrator in an inquiry into allegedly forged invoices for medal purchases. The federation’s complaint alleges breach of trust, document forgery and use of forged documents. The five were arrested the previous week and have now been ordered to remain in custody while the financial allegations are investigated.
Skiing and snowboarding
International
Five athletes receive most detected abuse in FIS online monitoring
Five athletes received 61% of the online abuse detected by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s monitoring, its new integrity report reveals. It identified 2,794 abusive posts affecting 151 people, with one case recommended for possible law enforcement action. The federation also received 60 integrity reports, up from 25, including 20 during the Winter Olympics. Betting monitoring at the Games identified no concerns about manipulation.
Snooker
Scotland
Graeme Dott jailed for seven years for abusing two children
Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott has been sentenced to seven years in prison for abusing two children in offences committed between 1993 and 1996 and between 2006 and 2010. He will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely. The sentence follows his August conviction, after which snooker’s professional governing body permanently revoked his membership.
Swimming
Greece
Swimming coach faces ethics hearing over alleged blows to 14-year-old
A Chania swimming coach has been summoned before Greece’s swimming federation ethics committee over allegations that he struck a 14-year-old at July’s national championships. His lawyer disputes the complaint’s account of what happened. A published statement describes an apology, a warning from the club and the swimmer’s move to another coach.
Japan
Schools alert parents after swimming instructor’s sexual assault arrest
An instructor arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a primary-school girl during swimming club instruction also taught school swimming lessons, Makinohara’s education board has disclosed. The alleged incident took place in June 2025. The board notified parents after identifying his work in local schools and scheduled a briefing for 6 October.
Swimming club dismisses coach after he acknowledges slapping teenagers
A Nagasaki swimming club will dismiss its coach on 31 October after reports that he slapped two teenage swimmers during training in 2025. The club says the coach, who also chairs the swimming federation, acknowledged the conduct. Federation directors will meet to establish what happened and decide their response.
Volleyball
United States
Records reveal abuse complaint preceding Texas Tech volleyball coach’s dismissal
Newly disclosed records show that a complaint accusing Texas Tech volleyball coach Tony Graystone of physical abuse, medical mistreatment and battery preceded his dismissal. A September email sought a meeting with the athletic director and expressed fear of retaliation.
Wrestling
India
Court seeks responses to wrestlers’ appeal against sexual harassment acquittals
Four women wrestlers are challenging the August acquittals of former federation president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Vinod Tomar in a sexual harassment case. A Delhi court has asked the men to respond to the appeal, which contests the trial court’s assessment of testimony and assumptions about how complainants should behave. The next hearing is scheduled for 9 October.
United States
Former Hawaii wrestling coach stays in custody as further tips emerge
A federal judge has kept former Hawaii wrestling coach Sean Sakaida in custody as investigators examine further tips received after his arrest on charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors said three of five tips were credible and connected to the case. The judge rejected a proposed release with home detention and internet restrictions, finding those measures insufficient to address the concerns raised.