Former DOJ Prosecutor Argues Leagues Out to Fund Sports Integrity Body

According to Carolyn Pokorny, a former federal corruption prosecutor, the only way to properly address the ongoing drama in professional sports is to create a new independent governing body that would regulate integrity.

New Integrity Body Could Help Uproot Match-Fixing in Sports 

Pokorny’s remarks come at a time when major leagues in America have been heavily criticized for serious blunders – prominent NBA players have been busted feeding nonpublic data to gamblers, while the FBI has cracked down on the league.

The MLB has been embroiled in a scandal of its own, and dozens of NCAA college athletes have been named in an anti-corruption probe for participating in match-fixing.

Against this backdrop, Pokorny is calling for sports leagues to fund an independent investigator who will be tasked with specifically investigating sports betting fraud. 

According to her, there have been serious omissions in the league’s code of conduct, with the bodies unable to root out widespread corruption,n which has made Americans question whether gambling isn’t making players perform sub-optimally for the sake of securing wagers. 

Speaking to CBS News, she noted, “Those kinds of prosecutions are really critical. But you have to keep in mind that prosecutors are stretched very thin, and they have a huge mandate. They’re handling terrorism, drug cartels, and human trafficking. They are not the sports integrity police.” 

She already has a blueprint body that a potential future sports betting integrity watchdog could emulate – the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which already successfully oversees Wall Street firms, and is funded by them.

Some Leagues Argue They Have Already Undertaken Adequate Measures 

Some bodies have disagreed with Pokorny, including the NCAA, which responded that it has already undertaken serious measures to curb corruption, including the education of athletes, as well as broader advocacy for the end of risky betting markets such as prop bets. 

According to the NCAA, it is prop bets that specifically threaten the integrity of the sports. Even if Pokorny gets her way, however, the issues with match-fixing run much deeper than that.

Assuming the NCAA had its way and prop bets were outlawed, for example, the US would have little to no means to act against offshore operators, which continue to accept them. 

If anything, the recent scandals highlighting the problems with league integrity only came after licensed sportsbooks reported suspicious betting patterns.