Russia to criminalise football match-fixing

Russia is to introduce a new law before parliament which would for the first time allow criminal prosecution for match-fixing in football in the country, officials said Wednesday.A proposal from Federal Audit Chamber chairman Sergei Stepashin received the strong support of the countrys government and the new amendments to the state law about physical culture could be introduced before the end of 2012.Russias Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that the lower house of the countrys parliament, the State Duma, had already created a group to prepare the new amendments.Anzor Kavazashvili, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU) experts committee, which was established to struggle with match-fixing in Russian football, said he was happy with a new legislative initiative.Theres never been a proven instance of match-fixing in Russia, however, a set of unusual scorelines in the countrys football championship has on occasion raised suspicions among observers, officials and football experts.Meanwhile, the world football governing body FIFA recently issued a series of new measures to combat match-fixing, including an appeal for assistance to Interpol and the establishment of protection programmes for informants.