Police target match-fixers to keep NZ games clean

Airport watch aims to identify suspicious visitors, and laws will be made tougher.

A list of cricket match-fixers has been drawn up by police and anti-corruption investigators in a bid to stop them at the border before the World Cup next year.

And top players are being warned against getting caught in sexually comprising "honey traps" set by the betting underworld.

Visiting International Cricket Council officials last week told police that attempts at match-fixing would happen in New Zealand, and shared intelligence reports on those linked to the gambling racketeers.

Passengers coming into NZ will be profiled at Auckland Airport and be turned away at the border if they are suspected of having connections to betting rings run by organised criminal syndicates, mostly based from Asia.

A Customs spokeswoman said people suspected of being involved in match-fixing could be barred from boarding a flight to NZ.

Match-fixing will become a specific crime by the end of the year. This will give police more teeth to investigate, said Superintendent Sandra Manderson, police chief for the Cricket World Cup in February and March and the Fifa Under-20 World Cup from May 30 to June 21.

She said that last year, spectators at two matches between NZ and England had been identified as "courtsiding", or reporting live to gain a betting advantage over those watching delayed broadcasts overseas.

The ICC had identified people in the crowd in Hamilton and Wellington "courtsiding" during the English tour, said Ms Manderson.

A ban on the practice would probably be imposed as one of conditions for buying a match ticket for the World Cup. Anyone caught would be evicted from the ground.

The Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament with unanimous support and is planned to come into force mid-December, before NZ hosts the world cricket and football events.

Some types of match-fixing behaviour may already be covered by sections of the Crimes Act and Secret Commissions Act, but the proposed law removes any uncertainty. Any behaviour designed to influence the betting outcome will be defined as "obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception" and be punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Ms Manderson said the pending law change would give police "more teeth" to investigate corruption in sport, and senior officers had been briefed by two members of the ICC anti-corruption unit.

Police were working closely with the ICC and Customs to target known match-fixers - or profile potential match-fixers - who might try to enter New Zealand and turn them away at the border.

Ms Manderson also warned of "honey traps" set by the betting syndicates to catch players in compromising positions.

"We know they bring in women into the country to fraternise with players," she said.

"Afterwards, they'll ask the players to do something and if they refuse they'll say, 'Well, see these photographs? They will be with your wife, your neighbours, your parents.'

"There are millions and millions of dollars at stake in match-fixing."

Cricket World Cup

• February and March next year.
• Hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
• Second semifinal at Eden Park on March 24.
• Final at Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29.