It can be done. The sentence must be pronounced shouting as he did Gene Wilder in the masterpiece of Mel Brooks, Frankenstein Junior. Even if in this case there is nothing comical at all, given that we are talking about illegal online betting and organized crime. But an example comes from Germany that can trigger a virtuous circle, capable of breaking that mixture of silence e laziness which characterizes football clubs in ignoring the backgrounds of some own partners commercialespecially those related to betting.
Il Borussia Mönchengladbachin fact, has decided to interrupt its collaboration with a Chinese sponsor, the AYX betting companyafter an investigation aired on the station ZDF on the “Crime Factories” (this is the title of the documentary), the Asian crime factories that use betting companies to take root and expand in the world of the soccer.
In the documentary series “The trail“, the track, in which “Crime Factories” is contained, the journalists Lucas Eiler and Sebastian Galle shed light on the criminal activities that take place behind the mura of the fields Of Work forced into Southeast Asia. The beating heart is represented by a Chinese cyber criminal organization, the Gruppoon which three betting companies that currently have commercial links with Bundesliga clubs depend: AYX, That’s Xing Kongpartner respectively of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen e Borussia Dortmund.
Theirs is accused of recycling Of moneyit’s about human beings e slavery modern. One of the places mentioned in the documentary is the complex Jinshui Of Sihanoukvillein Cambodia, “which meets all international standards applicable to the definition of modern slavery,” as stated by Lindsey Kennedy of the organization “The Eyewitness Project”, which deals with human rights violations.
In “Crime Factories” there are various testimonies that talk about abuse e torture. A person, fictitiously named Roy, says he was lured in 2022 through a false offer Of Work and of finding himself in the hands of the Chinese mafia. He talked about beatings for those who refuse to work, with the use also of electric shock. Another, Lu, describes the Sihanoukville complex by talking about a series of buildings in which there is everything: administrative and financial offices, training places, video rooms.
The investigative sports journalist Philippe Auclair, a collaborator of the, also appears in the investigation Guardian and the Norwegian magazine Josimaralready mentioned several times on this site for his tireless work Of research sui places dark of online betting companies that finance football. “None of the companies that work with the Bundesliga clubs have one appropriate license“says Auclair. “We are dealing with people who systematically violate the law.”
The investigation of ZDF it made some noise, even if not everyone reacted in the same way. Gladbach, through its CEO Markus Aretz, he was the most responsive. Through a statement to the Rheinische Post, Aretz said: “We have decided to put an end to ours collaboration with the partner, deciding to adopt this measure on the basis of the available reports, in order to continue the collaboration it is no longer compatible with the principles of our club.”
For now AYX is still present as international partner on the Gladbach website, which did not specify when the measure will come into force. At the very least, however, society has moved, placing an issue under the spotlight, that of collaboration with them society Of Asian bettinglittle heard by the public, and especially by the fans. Not only in Germany but almost everywhere these cases come to light, from England to Italy, and of which ilfattoquotidiano.it he spoke several times.
If Gladbach began to expose themselves, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen have so far implemented opposite strategies. Total silence for Dortmund, also imitated by the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga), which refused to comment on both the decisions taken by the aforementioned companies and the potential consequences of the investigation. Leverkusen instead declared that he won’t take any steps backwardsas the critical contents presented in the program “are based on circumstantial evidence e anonymous statementswithout any direct reference to our partner.
Furthermore, there is no indication of judicial proceedings o di police in progress for such facts, official positions of no competent authority are reported”. A trivially pre-packaged motivation and already heard on several occasions. As already written in the past, the eye does not see, the heart (and above all the wallet) does not hurt.
