E5 - Special with Dr. Declan Hill - Match-fixing & Sports gambling | World Cup | Champions league | Persona non Grata at FIFA
My co-host today is Vilhjálmur Rúnarsson.
Welcome to Sports Law Matters. Today, we have a truly special guest with us, someone who has delved deep into the underbelly of international sports and brought to light some of its darkest secrets. Declan Hill is not just an investigative academic and journalist; he's a leading global authority on match-fixing and
corruption in sports. Back in 2008, as a Chevening Scholar, Declan earned his doctorate in Sociology from the prestigious University of Oxford. Many of you might know him from his groundbreaking book, 'The Fix: Organized Crime and Soccer,' which has been translated into an impressive twenty-one languages. In this book, Declan was the pioneer in exposing the threats posed by the global
gambling market and the high-level match-fixing in professional football, including major tournaments like the Champions League and FIFA World Cup. And if that wasn't thrilling enough, part of his book even chronicles his personal involvement with an Asian match-fixing gang as they journeyed globally to rig major football games. But Declan's contributions don't stop there. He's penned
numerous academic articles, reviewed for Global Integrity, and even delved into the influence of the Russian mafia on the NHL. In 2011, he was at the forefront of creating the first online anti-match-fixing education course, which was later adopted by none other than Interpol.
His second book, 'The Insider’s Guide to Match-Fixing,' is
essentially 'Freakonomics meets Sports Corruption.' It's a more accessible take on his Oxford doctoral thesis and has already been translated into Japanese. Before his deep dive into sports corruption, Declan had quite a diverse career. He's graced the stage in Canadian theatres, appeared on Indian television, and due to a transformative experience in a Calcutta street clinic, he transitioned from theatre to become a founding volunteer for the
Canadian chapter of Doctors without Borders. He then ventured into journalism, working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and his work has been featured in renowned publications like the New York Times, BBC, The Guardian,
and many more. Declan's expertise has led him to give presentations to elite organizations like the International Olympic Committee, the European Parliament, and even the UK Parliament. He's also been recognized with numerous awards for his investigative work. Outside of his professional life, Declan is quite the fighter – literally! He's an avid amateur boxer and martial arts enthusiast. He even won a charity boxing match as part of the historic Trudeau-Brazeau night, all in support of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. And if you ever want to chat with him in French, Spanish, or even Italian (though he humbly admits his Italian could use some work), Declan's your guy.
