US looks to Mexico

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the US Department of State has dangled a grant of $2m in front of applicants with the capacity to help the US “disrupt and reduce” corruption in Mexican sports betting.

The INL signed off on the tender last week, with an October submission deadline ahead of the project going live as early as December.

counter corruption and financial crime related to corruption in sports”

The State Department wants to look at proposals to “counter corruption and financial crime related to corruption in sports” in the Latin American country. The INL made special mention of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that Mexico will co-host with the US and Canada as a sporting event: “likely to be exploited by Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs).”  

Stem the flow

The INL intends to bankroll business plans that help it disrupt the money laundering flow of TCOs out of Mexico, which the State body estimated to be between $18bn and $44bn per year.

The INL wants to use its $2m to bankroll a project that builds “capacity for specialized prosecutors, State and Federal financial intelligence units, regulators, and other stakeholders to counter corruption and financial crime related to corruption in sports.”

will aim to establish and upgrade investigative techniques and/or procedures

The State body stated the project will aim to establish and upgrade investigative techniques and/or procedures on sports-related corruption and money laundering.

The grant announcement added that the project could also include “transnational sports corruption investigations, evidence collection and evaluation, bet monitoring and analysis, match fixing, theft of funds, embezzlement.”

Another positive outcome the INL foresees from the grant is more effective collaboration between various stakeholders, including “specialized prosecutors’ offices, financial intelligence units,” bodies governing sports and US sports betting regulators.

Mexican ad campaign

The federal grant also requires the winning tender/s to create an educational ad campaign aimed at the Mexican public to raise awareness of sports corruption, match fixing, and illegal sports betting. The campaign will also provide the public with information on how to report such crimes.

With its eye on the FIFA World Cup 2026, the INL stated that “law enforcement in Mexico need robust, rigorous and independent training” on how to tackle sports and sports betting-related crime.