Industry experts warn of ticking bomb for Canadian pro sports because the country has no explicit match-fixing laws. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Open season up North

“It’s open season for match-fixing up there,” stated Declan Hill on the state of sports betting in Canada.

ticking bomb in Canadian sports betting

The University of New Haven associate professor and worldwide expert on match-fixing isn’t the only insider to recently warn of a ticking bomb in Canadian sports betting.

While the US is beset by betting scandals and related bans, anti-match-fixing laws are nevertheless in place. According to Hill and other experts there are, however, zero laws in Canada explicitly banning match-fixing. Front Office Sports (FOS) cited Hill as saying the actions of banned NBA star Jontay Porter are not technically illegal in the country.

A 2023 white paper by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and McLaren Global Sports Solutions (MGSS) warns of an impending “tsunami” for Canadian pro leagues, players and coaches alike.

MGSS CEO Richard McLaren stated that Canada is not “immune” to the sharp rise in global match-fixing, saying: “Several Canadian sports have been shown to be at heightened risk and can be influenced from abroad, including offshore betting.”

Where there’s smoke

According to FOS, Hill led an investigative team from his US university that reported “bizarre” odds fluctuations in sports matches worldwide between May 31 and July 2. These included games in Canada, Russia, China, Brazil, and the US across basketball, tennis, cricket, volleyball, and table tennis.   

You can just fix and not get punished.”

“There are tons of big events which are being fixed.” Hill stated: “Because there is no punition. You can just fix and not get punished.”

McCarthy Tétrault’s Senior Counsel Danielle M. Bush believes that without solid national laws on match-fixing, Canada could be “sleepwalking” towards a major sports betting scandal involving point-shaving.

Bush wants to push for UK-like match-fixing laws. She told FOS that “Canada would do well to pass a federal statute that closely hews to the U.K.’s statute” in time to have a solid platform ready by the time Canada co-hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Canada also has form in organized sports betting crime. In the spring, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted an online sports betting operation operating out of five locations in the Toronto area and masterminded by alleged Hells Angels enforcer Paris Christoforou.

Risk of losing credibility

In July, the Canadian Football League suspended Montreal Alouettes defensive lineman Shawn Lemon for betting on games he played in Calgary Stampeders colors back in 2021.

fans could turn their backs on sport when it “is somehow scripted”

Sports super-agent Leigh Steinberg, however, warned that actions of individuals like Lemon and Porter won’t turn fans against pro sports. He then held up pro wrestling as a cautionary example of how serious sports fans could turn their backs on a sport when it “is somehow scripted or predetermined or there were actions or facts going on the public wasn’t aware of.”

The CCES, meanwhile, wants the Canadian government to go a step further and sign the Macolin Convention, which aims to combat match fixing via detection, prevention and punishment for manipulating sports games.