Steve Menary

The migrant soldiers - josimarfootball.com For months, the Russian army has secretly recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of jobless migrant workers in Qatar to fight on the frontline against Ukraine.

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For months, the Russian army has secretly recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of jobless migrant workers in Qatar to fight on the frontline against Ukraine.

By @samindrakunti.bsky.social and @bobbyperu.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/09/25/t...

@begovicmarko.bsky.social and I teamed up to write this new report on the growth of offshore betting regulators which facilitate illegal betting and match fixing ifhaonline.org/default.asp?...

Important new research from Steve Menary on the increase in relationships between betting companies and leading cricket teams, tournaments & players post-Covid.

Have a read below ⬇️⬇️

New research: Cricket flooded with betting sponsorships after pandemic Research by Play the Game reveals a surge in betting deals, with 1737confirmed partnerships between betting companies, cricket teams, tournaments, and players in the last two decades.

Cricket is being flooded by betting companies targeting South Asia .. where betting is largely illegal. New research showing how big the problem is for @playthegame-org.bsky.social
@cricketacademic.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/new-res...

Plus ça change - josimarfootball.com Money-laundering, scamming, cyber slavery compounds and appalling human rights abuses are no obstacles for Premier League clubs looking for betting partners – or the UK regulator.

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Money-laundering, scamming, cyber slavery compounds and appalling human rights abuses are no obstacles for Premier League clubs looking for betting partners – or the UK regulator.

By @philippeauclair.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/29/p...

BBC World Service - Stumped, Can Moroccan cricket ever be revived? Moroccan cricket has gone into decline - but is there hope for the sport there?

Not the only bit of a disused stadium in Tangier! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Below the radar - josimarfootball.com Uefa’s integrity partner Sportradar consistently claims that it doesn’t sell data to unlicensed gambling operators. But its annual report states that it generates significant revenue from unlicensed g...

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Uefa’s integrity partner Sportradar consistently claims that it doesn’t sell data to unlicensed gambling operators. But its annual report states that it generates significant revenue from unlicensed gambling.

By @journoandy.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/22/b...

Below the radar - josimarfootball.com Uefa’s integrity partner Sportradar consistently claims that it doesn’t sell data to unlicensed gambling operators. But its annual report states that it generates significant revenue from unlicensed g...

Sportradar always claim to protect the integrity of the game.

In reality, they are the baddies.

Latest with @philippeauclair.bsky.social, @journoandy.bsky.social,
@stevemenary.bsky.social and Jack Kerr.

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/22/b...

Running like a fox - josimarfootball.com Leicester were set to unveil their kit for the new season last week, but the announcement was postponed. Was it because their new sponsor KBET is a hitherto unknown – and illegal – online bookmaker?

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Leicester were set to unveil their kit for the new season last week, but the announcement was postponed. Was it because their new sponsor KBET is a hitherto unknown – and illegal – online bookmaker?

By @philippeauclair.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/21/r...

Banned operators, business as usual - josimarfootball.com Sanctioned? Fined? Banned? Not a problem if you're a sports betting company eager to do business. Illegal bookmakers linked to Premier League clubs recently set up stalls at a gambling conference in L...

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Sanctioned? Fined? Banned? Not a problem if you’re a sports betting company eager to do business. Illegal bookmakers linked to Premier League clubs recently set up stalls at a gambling conference in London.

By @philippeauclair.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/07/b...

Flabet in da house - josimarfootball.com In an unprecedented move, Flamengo are offering odds on their ‘in-house’ betting platform Flabet and encouraging supporters to gamble on the club’s own matches. Will this be a new trend, elite clubs h...

You may have noticed ‘Flabet’ at the Club World Cup.

Here’s the story of Flamengo’s shirt sponsor.

For @josimarfootball.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/07/03/f...

Burning up the planet: the rise-and-rise of long-haul summer friendlies by major clubs "Pre-season tours in distant locations are a growing problem — for both the planet and exhausted players ... long-haul flights are among the most polluting forms of travel."

Preseason friendlies are now an excuse for major clubs to jet around the world looking for new sponsors and fans - for @sportingintel.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/sporting... @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social @fbandclimate.bsky.social

Just two clubs will make their debut in the UEFA Champions League in 2025/26. The door is neary closed, the Super League almost here … For the Union of European Clubs www.ueceurope.org/post/ucl-div...

MCO problems keep on coming: UEFA investigating potential conflict of interest between participation of DAC 1904 from Slovakia and Hungary’s ETO, which is subject to “legal proceedings”

Two decades ago I started writing this book. Gibraltar & Kosovo made it into FIFA but Greenland’s treatment by football’s governing bodies is a total disgrace. What are these organisations for other than to cosy up to dictators and sell out football? Greenland = The Original Outcasts

Game over? - josimarfootball.com Declared bankrupt in Curaçao for not paying punters, BC.GAME, main sponsor of Leicester City FC in the 2024/25 season, moved jurisdiction. But the company behind BC.GAME does not exist.

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Declared bankrupt in Curaçao for not paying punters, BC.GAME, main sponsor of Leicester City FC in the 2024/25 season, moved jurisdiction. But the company behind BC.GAME does not exist.

By @stevemenary.bsky.social and @philippeauclair.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/06/10/g...

A letter from Philippe Auclair - josimarfootball.com The reality we at Josimar face is stark. Should we fail to raise € 50k by 1 July, the world's only investigative media dedicated solely to football will cease to exist.

We have one month to save @josimarfootball.bsky.social. If you can help, please do. 🙏

josimarfootball.com/2025/06/03/a...

€173 to fix a match!

Playing both sides of the pitch - josimarfootball.com Russian gambling operators are offering live betting on Ukrainian football matches – often thanks to data from Uefa’s long-term integrity partner, Sportradar.

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Russian gambling operators are offering live betting on Ukrainian football matches – often thanks to data from Uefa’s long-term integrity partner, Sportradar.

By @samindrakunti.bsky.social, @jackkerr.bsky.social, @philippeauclair.bsky.social

josimarfootball.com/2025/05/20/p...

TGP Europe Limited - Licence summary

Extraordinary news. TGP Europe, the company which enabled dozens of illegal Asian-facing sports betting operators to be registered in Great Britain - and sponsor PL clubs - has surrendered its licences. Good riddance.

www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-regis...

The GB football team at the 1936 Olympic tournament all refused and gave the military eyes right instead

The domestic threat: Why multi-club ownership is a homegrown crisis too In a country where match-fixing scandals and criminal links persist, Mexico’s football league has welcomed owners who control multiple clubs, including a betting giant whose owners the US government o...

Fourth and final instalment of the special report @stevemenary.bsky.social and I have done on multi-club ownership for @playthegame-org.bsky.social: this time, the crazy world of MCO in Mexico, where the biggest bookmaker, Caliente, is also the biggest club owner.
www.playthegame.org/news/the-dom...

So 1xBet is now a ‘member and committed supporter’ of Sports Integrity Global Alliance siga-sport.com/members-and-... 1xBet couldn’t get a licence in Brazil and black listed in plenty of other places but that obviously doesn’t worry SIGA!

Water through a sieve: The rise of untraceable power in football's MCO era From LA to Lausanne, billionaires, private equity, and secretive funds have created a web of influence across clubs in structures that are too fluid to follow and too complex to regulate.

Part 3 of 4 of the special report @stevemenary.bsky.social and I have devoted to multi-club ownership for @playthegame-org.bsky.social. This time, how MCO networks are both so fluid and so opaque that they escape detection - and oversight. www.playthegame.org/news/water-t...

The hidden webs of multi-club ownership leave football exposed to crime The rise of multi-club ownership has led to increasingly complex corporate structures that obscure who really controls football clubs.

Is multi club ownership increasing football’s vulnerability to crime? Part 2 of an investigation into the problems posed by MCO by myself and @philippeauclair.bsky.social for @playthegame-org.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/the-hid... #MCO

AskGamblers have published their 2024 complaints review and the 4 biggest offenders are all major sponsors of sport, particularly football and cricket. Does sport read these things? Do they even care? @josimarfootball.bsky.social @cricketacademic.bsky.social