Under the amendments drafted by the ministry, individuals who consciously influence the course or results of professional sports events with the aim of affecting the unpredictability of sports events to gain or provide material benefits, would be punished by public work, fine or arrest.
The ministry also suggested equating professional athletes to public servants, thus making it possible to bring them to justice for bribery.
The amendments were drafted by a task force set up by ministers of interior affairs and justice in May.
MP Juras Požela, one of the members of the team, told BNS that the task force did virtually nothing to curb sports results fixing. In his words, the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code is the only outcome of more than six months of work, and the changes are almost the same as the legal amendments Požela proposed last year.
Lithuania has repeatedly been accused of fixing football matches. A survey carried out by Transparency International last year shows that 55 percent of football players believe that unfair agreements on sports results are wide-spread.
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