Bangkok, Thailand, December 6, 2024: Enforcement of the law is the key to success when it comes to match-fixing and the prevention of manipulation of competition (PMC).
This was the message from Prof. Charoen Wattanasin, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand and NOC Single Point of Contact for PMC, at the OCA PMC Workshop in Bangkok on Friday.
Prof. Charoen presented the legal framework in Thailand, and emphasized that gambling was illegal in Thailand and regarded as a criminal offence.
“There are no betting shops in Thailand,” he said, adding that there were increasing incidents of match-fixing in sports such as boxing and football.
With gambling regarded as a felony in Thailand, punishment is severe with up to five years in jail for match-fixing and fines ranging from 200,000 Thai Baht to 500,000 Thai Baht (6,250 USD to 15,625 USD).
The first day of the two-day OCA PMC Workshop ended with a question-and-answer session between the NOC delegates and the experts from Interpol and the IOC.
The afternoon session began with a presentation by Ronan O’Laoire, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, highlighting the importance of criminal legislation that specifically addresses competition manipulation, and continued with an online presentation by Nicolas Sayde from the Council of Europe.
The OCA PMC Workshop continues on Saturday with input from 43 National Olympic Committees from Asia as well as law enforcement agencies, government ministries and other relevant parties.
