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.
Top five
· Ballon d’Or organisers prepare complaint after suspicious bets predict the top five
· Three former Algeria football federation presidents receive prison sentences in corruption trial
· Investigation exposes gaps in women cricketers’ protection from sexual harassment
· Goalkeeper in Zimbabwe records alleged approach to influence a title-race match
· Samoa rugby union steps aside from World Rugby Council during governance review
Football
Algeria | Three former football federation presidents receive prison sentences in corruption trial
Three men who successively ran Algerian football between 2017 and 2023 have received prison sentences in a corruption case examining how the federation spent its money. On 27 October, the economic and financial criminal court in Algiers sentenced Kheireddine Zetchi and Charaf-Eddine Amara to eight years each, and Djahid Zefizef to six. Each was also fined one million Algerian dinars (6,500 euros).
The trial examined federation contracts, including the implementation of a 2019 Adidas equipment agreement and travel arrangements with a Tunisian agency. Two former secretaries-general and the former finance director received three-year terms.
Argentina | Prosecutors trace alleged illegal gambling money into loans to Argentinos Juniors
Money allegedly originating in illegal online gambling reached football through lending by Sur Finanzas, according to new details of the case against its owner, Ariel Vallejo. The newspaper, La Nación, obtained the allegations read to Vallejo at his questioning last week. They identify transactions with Argentinos Juniors, a Buenos Aires club, including funds prosecutors say were laundered through the company.
Prosecutor Cecilia Incardona describes a 600 million Argentine peso (US$390,000) cheque transaction and a separate 200 million peso (US$130,000) loan to the club in December 2024. Her account connects the lending to money moving through digital wallets and bank accounts, including proceeds allegedly generated by an unlicensed casino and accounts opened using other people’s identities.
Vallejo declined to answer questions about the allegations and remained in custody. The newly disclosed football transactions form part of a wider case covering 15 alleged episodes.
Brazil | Prosecutor asks Corinthians to explain stadium payment and Nike money in debt case
A Brazilian prosecutor has asked a court to require Corinthians to account for two large flows of money while creditors await payment. The request concerns roughly R$26 million (US$4.7 million) paid to state bank Caixa in connection with the club’s stadium and R$32.775 million (US$6 million) received from Nike. Prosecutor Roberto Victor Anelli Bodini asked how the Nike receipt was classified and whether the transactions had been properly reflected in the club’s court-supervised debt arrangements.
How the money is recorded affects what creditors can expect from a football club trying to settle debts while continuing to operate. Corinthians has said the Caixa transfers cover interest and advances involving the stadium company.
Djibouti | Clubs elect rival football president a day after court reinstates incumbent board
Two men are claiming authority over Djibouti’s football federation after a court ruling and a club vote on consecutive days. On 28 October, an interim judge provisionally restored federation president Souleiman Hassan Waberi and his executive committee, suspended the implementation of the disputed 5 October assembly’s decisions and ordered that the board regain access to its offices. The order also stopped the replacement-election process while the legal challenge proceeds.
Sixteen clubs nevertheless held an election on 29 October, where Idriss Ibrahim Soubaneh won 38 of 40 votes. Waberi’s board disputes the meeting’s authority and says its mandate runs to December 2028. The competing claims leave clubs, national teams and officials facing the practical question of who can represent and administer Djiboutian football.
England | Sheikh Mansour puts £100 million into City Football Group as club appeals financial verdict
Sheikh Mansour’s investment vehicle bought £100 million of newly issued shares in City Football Group, the parent company of Manchester City, according to a 26 October report by City AM. Companies House records show the shares were allotted on 14 October, after an independent Premier League commission found that City had breached financial rules over nine seasons. The group confirmed to the newspaper that Newton Investment and Development bought them and said the proceeds would fund its normal corporate plans.
City Football Group owns or controls clubs on several continents, so the cash is going into the wider ownership group rather than being identified as a direct payment to Manchester City. The company’s confirmation of the buyer is the new disclosure this week; the share allotment itself was earlier. City is appealing the commission’s findings, while a separate sanctions hearing has yet to conclude. The investment does not resolve either proceeding or the audit regulator’s preliminary enquiries, but establishes that the owner has committed more capital while the club’s future ownership is under scrutiny.
France | Ballon d’Or organisers prepare complaint after suspicious bets predict the top five
The owners of France Football are preparing a complaint over suspected leaks of the Ballon d’Or results and potentially fraudulent betting. Amaury Group told Le Parisien on 31 October that investigations were under way after accounts on prediction-market platform Polymarket profited from correctly anticipating the awards ranking.
Financial newsroom Upside traced twelve recently created accounts that wagered approximately $264,000 before the ceremony on 26 October. One correctly backed all five leading places: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Lionel Messi. The accounts collectively made close to $200,000. Their bets began after the journalists’ voting deadline but before the results became public, creating an opportunity for anyone with advance access to the ranking.
Greece | Police link donations for sick children to an alleged football fixing network
Greek police announced six arrests on 31 October in an investigation linking a charity for seriously ill and disabled children to alleged football match fixing. Investigators say much of the money collected from donors was diverted, with some of the proceeds financing a second group seeking favourable refereeing for an amateur club pursuing promotion to the third division.
A 37-year-old man allegedly acted as an unofficial football club financier and placed 62 bets on his own team during the 2024–25 season, including bets that it would lose. The more recent allegations concern payments intended to influence matches in the current season, particularly fixtures against promotion rivals.
Police traced more than €250,000 in off-the-books funding to two clubs and estimate the charity network’s unlawful gain at approximately €2.83 million, based on financial enquiries and interviews.
Jordan | AFC refers Prince Ali’s allegations about Infantino congress to judicial bodies
The Asian Football Confederation has referred statements by Jordan Football Association president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein to its judicial bodies after he challenged the conduct of the AFC’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo. Prince Ali accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of turning the meeting to political ends and alleged that members were prevented from speaking freely.
The dispute follows AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s endorsement of Infantino for re-election, three months after Salman accused him of a fundamental breach of trust over FIFA’s football-festival proposal. Prince Ali said the Tokyo meeting involved coercion, threats and bribery. He has not presented public evidence establishing those allegations.
The AFC said on 27 October that the congress complied with its rules, no member association asked to speak and Prince Ali’s claims were unsupported.
Israel | Football tribunal rejects election challenger’s forgery claims
The Israeli Football Association’s internal supreme tribunal has rejected former government minister Issawi Frej’s challenge to his exclusion from its presidential election. The unanimous decision on 26 October found no factual basis for his claims of forged endorsements and improper conduct in the contest against incumbent Shino Zuares.
Candidates need backing from clubs representing at least ten per cent of the available votes, or 128 in this election. After duplicate, invalid and withdrawn endorsements were removed, Frej had 94 votes of support. Zuares had 1,070. Frej challenged the removal of support, but the tribunal said his forgery allegations lacked supporting sworn evidence.
The ruling nevertheless called for a review of the endorsement rules. Tribunal chair Adi Zarnkin said candidates should receive official notice of their support levels sufficiently before the deadline to act on the information. He also urged reconsideration of how clubs withdraw support from one candidate and transfer it to another.
Japan | Takeshi Okada resigns from Japanese FA over World Cup and FIFA concerns
Former Japan coach Takeshi Okada has resigned as a vice-president of the Japan Football Association because of its approach to FIFA and the World Cup. The JFA announced his departure on 28 October, four days after it took effect and one week after the Asian confederation endorsed Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president.
Okada said sport should be conducted with integrity and that the recent handling of matters surrounding the World Cup was too far removed from his convictions for him to accept. He acknowledged that keeping step with the AFC could be defended on practical grounds because of Japan’s regional relationships and football interests.
His statement makes no allegation of a rules breach and does not identify a single decision as the cause. The resignation nevertheless turns the region’s argument over Infantino from an external political dispute into a governance consequence inside one of Asia’s most influential national associations.
Kenya | Federation president faces six-charge notice over finances, league rules and meeting records
Football Kenya Federation’s general assembly has served president Hussein Mohammed with a formal notice requiring him to answer six allegations. Their 27 October charges raise questions about the FKF’s 2026 budget, bank-signing arrangements and the accounting for public funds allocated to national-team activity and African Nations Championship preparations.
Mohammed has been asked to provide a written account and supporting records by 4 November, before a proposed special general meeting on 7 November.
Nepal | Football executives demand answers from four officials facing match-collusion charges
The All Nepal Football Association’s executive committee has given four senior officials three days to explain a criminal case against them. Those targeted are president Pankaj Bikram Nembang, general secretary Kiran Rai, treasurer Rabindra Joshi and accounts officer Sanjiv Pandey. They have been released on bail after charges connected to alleged match collusion and fraud.
FIFA suspended the association in June over third-party interference, creating a separate dispute about how its leadership can govern or hold new elections.
Russia | Court orders Khimki official’s detention in absentia over alleged referee payment
A Moscow court has ordered the detention in absentia of Khimki team official Khasan Dzhioev over an alleged two million rouble ((US$24,700) payment to referee Aleksei Fisenko. Dzhioev had already been placed on an international wanted list in September.
Investigators allege that the payment, arranged through an intermediary, was intended to secure Khimki’s victory over Alania in November 2023. Khimki won that second-tier match 4–1 and went on to win promotion that season. Prosecutors say part of the money was subsequently distributed to two assistant referees and the match inspector.
Russia | Torpedo Moscow’s former director has referee-bribery sentence cut to 18 months
Moscow City Court reduced Valery Skorodumov’s prison sentence from two years to 18 months on 29 October, following his conviction for bribing football referees. The former Torpedo Moscow general director’s three-year ban on organising sporting events remains in place.
Skorodumov admitted seven offences in a scheme that investigators say operated from July 2024 to May 2025. Referees were offered between 600,000 and three million roubles if Torpedo won. His lawyers argued that he had helped investigators identify others involved and that the original sentence was excessive; prosecutors opposed the reduction.
Sweden | Former Sweden international formally notified of suspicion in alleged 2023 match manipulation
Swedish prosecutors have formally notified a former national team player, as yet unidentified publicliy, that he is suspected of match manipulation in an AIK game from spring 2023.
The investigation follows allegations that three AIK players wanted their side to lose in order to remove then-coach Andreas Brännström. AIK lost the match by one goal. Prosecutors are still examining the roles of two other players and gathering further material.
Turkey | Football federation challenges lenient betting rulings involving 448 club directors
Turkey’s football federation has challenged the disciplinary outcome of an investigation into betting by directors at its top two professional levels, Habertürk reported on 30 October. Of 448 directors referred to the professional disciplinary board, 301 received no sanction and 147 received 45-day bans. The federation argues that the decisions sit uneasily with recent betting precedents and has asked its own arbitration board to revisit them.
Its first request is to send the cases back for a fresh disciplinary hearing. Alternatively, the federation has sought more time to prepare a detailed appeal against this decision.
Uganda | Anti-corruption investigators demand football’s broadcast deals and public funding records
Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government has opened an investigation into alleged mismanagement of public funds at the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. The enquiry reaches into broadcasting contracts, government grants, federation companies and stadium construction.
One central question is why television broadcaster StarTimes paid broadcasting fees to FUFA Media Services Limited rather than directly to the federation. Investigators want the documents authorising that arrangement, the valuation of the commercial rights and evidence showing how revenue reached Premier League and Big League clubs. They have also requested details of deductions made before clubs were paid.
Inspector General Aisha Naluzze Batala’s office is seeking records stretching back to 2016. The demands include FIFA funding and construction accounts for Kadiba Stadium, alongside an explanation for the project’s non-completion.
Moses Magogo, the Troubled Kingpin of Ugandan Football
Moses Magogo is inevitable at the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA). For well over a decade, he has been in supreme command of the sport in Africa’s seventh-largest country.
Zimbabwe | Goalkeeper records alleged approach to influence a title-race match
An audio recording has put a Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League fixture under scrutiny after an injured CAPS United goalkeeper said he was asked to help influence teammates. In the recording, Washington Arubi rejects a woman’s request ahead of the club’s meeting with Scottland, a game with implications for the title race. Reporting identified the caller as Kwekwe United president Bridgette Mudhosi.
Scottland denied that the woman acted on its behalf. Zimbabwe’s football association and the Premier Soccer League has warned clubs against match manipulation and league chairman Isaiah Mupfurutsa urged anyone with evidence to submit a formal report so the authorities could act.
Across sport
Australia | Government backs binding action on international match-fixing treaty
Australia has formally supported a parliamentary recommendation to take binding treaty action on the Macolin Convention, the international agreement against manipulation of sports competitions. The government tabled its response on 28 October, setting out how it intends to strengthen cooperation between public authorities, sporting bodies and betting operators.
Match fixing can involve competitors in one country, organisers in another and betting accounts elsewhere. The convention is intended to make information exchange and coordinated action easier across those boundaries.
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Seven arrested over alleged sale of fake fixed-match tips
Police arrested seven people around Foča on 28 October over an alleged fraud built on claims of access to fixed sporting events. An eighth person, already serving a prison sentence, is also under investigation.
According to police, social media accounts advertised supposedly reliable information using fabricated testimonials, photographs of cash and forged winning betting slips. Some influencers were recruited to promote the offers. Customers first paid a relatively small amount to participate, then received a fake ticket showing a large win and demands for further payments to release it. Police say some people who refused faced threats and extortion.
Greece | Education minister promises checks after alleged school-sport admission abuses
Greece’s education minister Sofia Zacharaki held an emergency meeting on 30 October with the private teachers’ federation OIELE over alleged abuse of school sport to secure university-admission points. The union says some schools, clubs, federations and intermediaries may have arranged sham participation or manipulated competitions. It named schools in its complaints and asked for disciplinary action; those claims have not been established by the meeting.
According to OIELE’s account, the minister committed to a full check of the specific complaints and proposed reviving a technical committee with teachers to reconsider how sporting achievements count in national entrance exams.
Japan | Lawmakers outline a ban on manipulating competitions and pressuring athletes to fix them
A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers presented the outline of an anti-manipulation bill on 29 October. It would prohibit athletes, coaches, referees and sports officials from improperly influencing competitions, and would also forbid asking or encouraging others to do so.
The proposed framework includes a national system for reporting concerns and seeking advice, alongside a coordinating council bringing together relevant ministries. It does not include criminal penalties. The lawmakers intend to reconcile their parties’ positions before seeking to introduce a bill during the extraordinary parliamentary session.
Romania | New match-fixing bill proposes prison terms of up to eight years
Romanian MP Brian Cristian has submitted a revised anti-fixing bill after an earlier proposal met opposition in the Senate’s legal committee. The new text, filed on 28 October and reported by GSP two days later, carries the signatures of 38 parliamentarians and proposes penalties of two to eight years for fraudulently influencing sporting results.
The draft would add a specific offence to the country’s sports law. Its reach would extend beyond club directors to athletes, coaches, referees, agents, medical staff and others involved in preparing or running competitions. Cristian argues that investigators currently have to fit fixing allegations into fraud or corruption offences that do not clearly describe every participant’s role.
United States | NCAA joins scheme that could bar abusive bettors from participating sportsbooks
The NCAA, the governing body for US college sport, announced on 29 October that it is joining a programme to identify people who threaten and harass athletes online and connect that behaviour to consequences at betting platforms. The Bad Actor Program combines monitoring by Signify with investigative work involving Integrity Compliance 360. Fanatics Sportsbook is its first betting operator partner.
The practical aim is to connect an abusive social media account to an identifiable person, then provide participating organisations with information they can use to act. That could include excluding the person from a participating sportsbook. The monitoring covers NCAA championships and threats against athletes, coaches and officials.
The association’s earlier research found a direct betting connection in 12 per cent of verified abusive posts, rising to 19 per cent in men’s basketball.
United States | Utah brings criminal gambling charges against Kalshi
Utah filed fourteen criminal counts against KalshiEX and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara on 28 October, escalating its attempt to stop the prediction-market business operating in the state. The charges comprise one felony count concerning a pattern of unlawful activity, twelve felony online gambling promotion counts and one misdemeanour gambling promotion count.
An investigator allegedly opened an account using Utah identity and banking details and placed sports bets while confirming his location in the state. Prosecutors say the platform’s transaction fees generated proceeds from unlawful gambling. Kalshi calls the prosecution political overreach and says its contracts fall under federal regulation.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission had already joined the federal government in suing Utah that week to block state enforcement against registered markets. The criminal case puts the founders personally in the dispute, alongside the existing civil fight over whether a federal exchange registration displaces state gambling law.
Australian rules football
Australia | Football authorities intervene over club response to former coach’s rape charges
Tasmanian football authorities have intervened over Bracknell Football Club’s response to charges against a former coach. On 29 October, the Northern Tasmanian Football Association said it was deeply troubled by the club’s social-media activity after Josh Adams was charged with three counts of rape. The charges concern alleged offences in April 2025 and remain before the courts.
Club president Nicole Jones apologised and resigned after reporting disclosed private messages between her and the mother of the alleged victim. A subsequent club Facebook post urged members to stand together and said people were more than allegations or one difficult chapter. The association asked the club to stop public commentary that could cause further distress or harm. AFL Tasmania is reviewing the social-media activity for possible breaches of the National Community Football Policy Handbook. The regional association said it would reinforce every club’s safeguarding duties and bring in a qualified practitioner to train volunteers in trauma-informed responses to disclosures and allegations of sexual violence.
Baseball
South Korea | Police arrest teenager accused of using software to buy and resell postseason tickets
Busan police announced on 31 October that they had arrested a 19-year-old accused of buying professional baseball postseason tickets with automated software and reselling them at three to six times their original price. Investigators put the alleged profit at about six million won.
The teenager allegedly acquired around 50 tickets in 12 purchases through the official booking platform on 15 and 16 October, then sold them through nine transactions on a secondhand trading platform. The software, known as a macro, automates repeated purchasing actions, giving its user an advantage when large numbers of supporters are trying to secure seats.
![WEBCAST] The Wonderful World of Korean Baseball | Asia Society](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xA56!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa694856-c286-4314-8728-bba77d6e55bc_1200x800.jpeg "WEBCAST] The Wonderful World of Korean Baseball | Asia Society")
Basketball
Greece | Referee remanded and two others placed under house arrest in basketball fixing case
Chief referee Ilias Koromilas was remanded in custody on 26 October, while referee Vasso Tsarouha and former referee Tasos Piloidis were placed under electronically monitored house arrest, as the Greek basketball fixing investigation reached its remaining defendants. All three deny wrongdoing but are barred from involvement in basketball.
The investigation concerns alleged bribery and manipulation across roughly a decade, including games below the professional leagues. Koromilas denied controlling referee appointments. Tsarouha disputed witness accounts linking her to 13 matches, saying she had not officiated some of them. Piloidis filed a complaint accusing a principal witness of making false allegations.
The case has already forced federation president Vangelis Liolios to resign. On 26 October, sports minister Giannis Vroutsis urged fresh elections rather than an internal reshuffle. He said federation subsidies remained suspended during financial checks, apart from unavoidable operating costs such as salaries. Funding for individual basketball clubs would continue.
United States | Malik Beasley reaches plea agreement in NBA betting case
Former NBA guard Malik Beasley has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors in a case alleging that bettors profited from manipulated player statistics. A change-of-plea hearing is scheduled in Brooklyn for 9 December. Beasley had previously pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege that he altered his performance in at least four Milwaukee Bucks games during the 2023–24 season so others could win bets on individual statistics. The case reaches beyond one athlete to the people who allegedly arranged wagers on points and rebounds.
United States | NBA signs information-sharing agreement with prediction markets regulator
The NBA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission signed an agreement on 26 October to share information about threats to basketball’s integrity in prediction markets. These markets allow customers to trade contracts whose payouts depend on events, including sporting results.
The agreement establishes regular communication between the league and the federal derivatives regulator about integrity concerns and market conduct. The CFTC identified insider trading and fraud among the abuses it wants the arrangement to address. Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League already have similar agreements.
United States | Roderick Winkler admits bribing college basketball players to manipulate betting results
Roderick Winkler pleaded guilty in Philadelphia on 26 October to sports bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy, admitting his role in paying college basketball players to underperform. Prosecutors say the 32-year-old recruited, managed and paid players during the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons, while helping arrange bets against their teams.
The scheme targeted the point spread: the margin bookmakers use to balance a contest between stronger and weaker teams. A bribed player did not necessarily have to make his team lose. He could help ensure it performed worse than the betting margin required. Payments typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, with fixers approaching players for whom that money could exceed legitimate endorsement earnings. The wider conspiracy involved more than 39 players from over 17 Division I teams, according to prosecutors, with more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers. Winkler is due to be sentenced on 8 February.
Boxing
Ecuador | National team boxers allege threats after challenging their federation’s treatment
Five Ecuadorian national team boxers have publicly challenged their federation over coaching, travel arrangements and alleged threats against athletes who complain. Abel Mina, Gerlon Congo, Helen Sánchez, María José Palacios and Jean Carlos Anchico raised their concerns on 26 October while in Mexico for a Pan American Games qualifying event.
Congo said he and Mina had been warned they would suffer consequences if they continued speaking to the press. Other complaints described late visa arrangements, unreimbursed travel costs and inadequate food provision. Sánchez said she borrowed money to attend a consular appointment after receiving only two days’ notice. The athletes want changes to the coaching team and assurances that speaking out will not jeopardise their international careers. Beltrán denied threatening them, defended the federation’s work and attributed part of the dispute to indiscipline among team members.
Cricket
Bangladesh | Investigation exposes gaps in women cricketers’ protection from sexual harassment
An investigation published by The Whistle on 1 November describes sexual harassment allegations against coaches and selectors throughout Bangladeshi women’s cricket, alongside failures in the board’s complaints system. The newsroom interviewed 67 women cricketers during an eleven-month investigation and obtained the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s unpublished report into former captain Jahanara Alam’s complaints.
The reporting explains how selection power can make complaints costly: the same officials can influence a player’s place in a club, progression into national camps and access to a paid contract. The board’s own investigation found that it lacked a complete, effective structure for preventing harassment and expressed concern about the absence of a written follow-up to Alam’s 2021 letter.
Chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said a safeguarding policy had been approved in July. Yet ten contracted players interviewed by The Whistle said they knew nothing about it.
Cycling
Netherlands | Picnic-PostNL appoints independent investigator after riders describe a culture of fear
Cycling team Picnic-PostNL has appointed sports law professor Marjan Olfers to investigate its working culture. The review follows an investigation by NOS Sport and cycling platform In De Waaier, which spoke to 71 current and former riders and staff. They described an environment in which criticism of management could damage careers, access to support was unclear and some employees left with serious mental health problems. Former rider Martijn Tusveld publicly described becoming afraid to speak after challenging race tactics. The team says it does not recognise the overall picture presented in the reporting.
Esports
Ukraine | Three defendants face trial over alleged bribery of virtual football players
Ukrainian police announced on 30 October that an alleged organiser and two accomplices had been sent for trial over the manipulation of competitive virtual football matches. Investigators say a 28-year-old Kyiv resident paid esports players to influence results in 2022 and 2023 so the group could profit from bookmaker bets.
Bookmakers offered bets on the football video-game contests, giving the alleged organisers a market in which to profit from results arranged with competitors. The prosecution forms part of a far broader investigation into esports fixing. In September, related international enquiries led to searches in Spain and Germany, supported by Interpol and Europol, and the seizure of phones, computers and records.
Greyhound racing
Australia | Regulator discloses criminal conviction for keeping animals capable of use as lures
New South Wales greyhound regulator GWIC disclosed on 28 October that racing participant Stephen Lambley had been convicted of criminal animal welfare offences.
The offences concerned possession of animals capable of being used as racing lures, including rabbit remains and a possum, and keeping an animal in a cage too small for adequate exercise. The court imposed twelve-month community orders, prohibited Lambley from owning or controlling specified animals for 18 months and ordered him to pay A$8,000 in costs.
An interim disqualification imposed in May 2025 remains in force, preventing Lambley from participating in greyhound racing while this process continues.
Kurash
India | Fourteen trainee police constables arrested over allegedly forged sporting certificates
Pune police arrested fourteen newly recruited constables over two days in an investigation into allegedly forged kurash certificates. Kurash is a Central Asian wrestling sport, and certification of sporting achievement can help applicants qualify for reserved places in Indian government recruitment.
Investigators allege that around 1,500 certificates were improperly prepared and issued between 2016 and 2023. Officials of the Maharashtra State Kurash Association, including its president and secretary, are named in the case. 24 people have been arrested in this case.
Rugby union
Samoa | Samoa rugby union steps aside from World Rugby Council
Samoa has surrendered control of the country’s elite rugby programmes and temporarily withdrawn from the World Rugby Council, under an agreement intended to prevent a domestic governance struggle from threatening Samoa’s international teams.
The dispute escalated in July, when the Samoan government withdrew its recognition and financial support from Lakapi Samoa, the country’s rugby federation, citing concerns about its administration and divisions within the sport. The prime minister called for its leadership to step aside. When it refused, the government backed a rival organisation, the Samoa Rugby Football Union, as the country’s governing body. World Rugby continued to recognise Lakapi Samoa, leaving two organisations claiming authority over the sport and raising questions about Samoa’s international membership.
The agreement announced on 30 October is an interim settlement. The Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee will take control of the national high-performance programme, including preparations for the 2027 men’s World Cup, while domestic competitions continue. A Samoan-led group will examine the wider governance dispute, and World Rugby will separately assess whether Lakapi Samoa still meets its membership requirements.
Skiing
Czechia | Ski federation loses its elected leadership after internal appeal overturns conference decisions
The Czech Ski Association has been left without a valid executive committee after its appeals commission annulled the resolutions of its June conference, including the leadership elections. The federation disclosed the decision on 30 October. President Petr Veselý, elected in June, is among those affected.
The challenge came from ski jumping official and former competitor Jakub Janda, who argued that the allocation of funding breached the federation’s rules. The dispute included a proposed reduction of 2.5 million Czech crowns (US$115,000) in the discipline’s funding for the following year.
The federation’s secretariat will continue day-to-day operations, with new elections expected at an extraordinary conference on 30 November. That meeting was also due to consider a 30 million crown loan (US$1.3 million) as the federation deals with a loss of around 24 million crowns (US$1.1 million) from staging a women’s Alpine World Cup event at Špindlerův Mlýn in January.
Table Tennis
International | Table tennis leads 67 suspicious betting alerts in new integrity report
Table tennis generated 20 of the 67 suspicious betting alerts recorded by the International Betting Integrity Association in the third quarter, according to its newly released report. All twenty concerned competitions outside the International Table Tennis Federation’s events: ten in Poland, seven in Czechia and three in Ukraine.
Football accounted for fifteen alerts, tennis eleven, cricket nine and esports eight. Greyhound racing, basketball and badminton made up the remainder. Eight of the nine cricket alerts concerned events in Belgium. These figures describe concerns detected through member bookmakers’ betting data, rather than a count of proven fixed matches.
Tennis
International | Tennis integrity agency receives 22 betting alerts, mostly from lower-level men’s events
The International Tennis Integrity Agency received 22 alerts about suspicious betting during July–September, according to its quarterly update published on 28 October. Thirteen concerned M15 tournaments, the entry tier of the men’s professional World Tennis Tour.
The remaining alerts covered ATP 250 events, with one report; Challenger 50 and M25 events, with two each; and women’s tour events, with four. The distribution puts most of the reported concerns in the lower levels of professional tennis, where players compete to earn ranking points and progress towards the main tours.
Wrestling
Bulgaria | Five clubs’ court challenges block registration of wrestling’s new leadership
Five legal challenges have halted registration of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation’s new leadership, despite its recent election and recognition by the sport’s international governing body. Filings from five clubs suspended the registration process for president Todor Angelov and the new board.
Angelov replaced Stanka Zlateva at an extraordinary general assembly on 17 October. Zlateva said she would not appeal and would hand over authority, but that did not prevent member clubs from challenging the assembly’s decisions.