The ongoing scandal of match fixing in German football has stirred up the officials from UEFA, the European football association. UEFA announced plans to introduce a code that would ban players, referees and others directly involved in football matches, to take bets on football games.

The initiative follows the scandal that still rocks Germany. One referee, who admitted fixing some matches on instruction of a betting mafia, continues to reveal corruption details about him, fellow referees and players in German football.

The German match fixing came to light after frequent visits by the referee and some players to a betting shop in Berlin. What remain probably unknown to authorities and football officials is the amount of betting interests in past and future matches that are placed outside Germany, for example at the many German language betting websites.

This scandal ones more underlines the importance of strict control of betting activities to keep the integrety of sports and to prevent criminal activities. The IFHA believes that the best guarantee for this is by exclusive national regulation and enforcement.