Criminal-Legal Counteraction of Corruption in the Sphere of Sports: Foreign Experience (by the Example of the USA and Germany)

Abstract

Corruption as a threat to national security has already penetrated into almost all the most important spheres of life. The sports sector is no exception. The first evidence of corruption in the field of sports dates back to three hundred years before our era, when the athletes of Ancient Greece, at the behest of coaches, awarded the victory for the appropriate fee. The sport has evolved over the years. At present, it is difficult to imagine life without sports in general and sports competitions in particular. With the development of sports, corruption has also developed in it. This circumstance provoked a reaction from the international community and individual states. Thus, various international legal acts were adopted, and articles aimed at combating corruption in the field of sports were supplemented by the criminal legislation of a number of countries. The United States of America was one of the first to establish responsibility for corruption in the sports sector (§ 224 of section 18 of the Code of Laws, criminal codes of the states). In 2017, the Penal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany was supplemented with paragraphs 265c “Fraud in sports betting” and 265d “Manipulation of professional sports competitions”.