The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime

The book is well written, as makes want to know more. Is a journalist work, so you would expect more real names on it, but I understand the risks of giving away that information. Other than that, recommend. It's an eye opener for any football (soccer) fan.

One thing is for certain: after reading this book you will see the game in a different light. The author takes the readers on a world journey and discusses various methods of fixing football matches; from the motivations of the players to the fixer to how modern technology such as internet gaming sites contribute to this underground culture. If you do not have any insights into this topic then please pick up the book, its fairly fascinating, but if you want to leave the mental image of the beautiful game untainted then skip this.I gave it three stars because I had some insights into sports gambling and match fixing in other sports so the book never revealed anything groundbreaking. Also for his own personal safety the author never truly exposed the major fixers, simply stating this is a problem plaguing the sport. The book builds up to WC06 game between Brasil v Ghana where he stated his suspicions, but no solid proof was provided, so the book interesting but left me a bit unsatisfied.

If you love watching FIFA sanctioned football as it is now, then please do not read this book. You will be unable to un-read the conscious altering case presented by Declan Hill. Once you start reading this book, all viewings of your beloved footie will change. How you watch and what you watch for will definitely have new categories. This change will distract you from the actual joy you may have once derived from watching matches prior to reading 'The Fix'. Excellent use of journalistic skill, definitely not sensationalized. I applaud Mr. Hill for his daring efforts and what he's put at risk pursuing his findings. If you were the sort of kid who had to know the contents of your gift boxes prior to the event, this is the book for you. Think before you read, your childhood naivete is on the line.

Quite literally the best book I’ve ever read. Moving, informative, and thoughtfully provocative. I don’t even like soccer (don’t kill me) but I love this book.

I'm betting not many people will enjoy this book either because of the message it delivers or because it reads like a term paper crossed with a sloppy magazine article. "The Fix" is an investigation into how the Asian underworld is corrupting soccer leagues with its efforts to profit from sports betting. Underworld...Gambling...Soccer. Sounds like it should be interesting...but it is not.This book has the feel of a bunch of magazine articles that have been spliced together. Repetition abounds. Mr. Hill travels all over the world without ever finding the focus of his own story. His writing jumps from topic to topic and back again without ever locking on to an aspect that the reader can latch onto.The message of "The Fix" comes through loud and clear, though: all levels of the beautiful game are in danger because of the temptations faced by referees, players, former players, managers, boards, and even ownership. Apparently anybody can be bought by thugs from Asian sports betting syndicates. The fix may be in on any game you watch.Maybe my high expectations are partially to blame for the fact that I was relieved to turn the last page of "The Fix."

"The Fix" is an exceptional reading that opens your eyes to reality of any professional sport in any country in the World. The book is well organized, very easy to read, extremely insightful, and keeps you interested cover to cover. The author provides significant proof and detailed description of how match fixing is done, how people (players, referees, officials, gamblers...) are involved and certain results are achieved. The book is a real eye opener for those who believe that soccer is "pure and clean" sport without outside influence. Sadly enough FIFA, knowing that the problem of match fixing exists, does not apply any actions toward investigating the exisitng and even growing threat in sport corruption. It's very simple - too much money involved; TV contracts; sponsors; stadium tickets.... And this books shows it all! "The Fix" is a must read for any fan of Beautiful Game or a fan of any professional sport, since the concepts are the same. Yes, it's possible that you will not look at the sport the same way as before, and that you might be sceptical about some matches and team performances. I am. Bit, I still love soccer. And i still love watching it! The book opened my eyes on the sports corruption since i had no idea it was on a such a huge scale. Most of us know that these problems exist in South America and that some World Cup matches were fixed and certain teams were "guided" to the play-offs and even Finals, but the problems in Asia and Europe were new to me. I strongly recommend this book to all sports fans - read it, you'll be shocked by revelations!

Painful reality reading...Imagine what those in FIFA, Interpol, and the like know?

Can't wait to read all the pages.

I have often said "the referee is bought" during football games to the amusement of many friends. It is funny, but I have always meant it as only half a joke; there is no doubt that the bribing of referees in football matches has happened at the highest level. Notable examples are the semifinal of the UEFA Cup in 1984, where Anderlecht had paid the referee, who gave them a dubious penalty and disallowed a clear goal to win the match, as well as the scandal of referee Robert Hoyser in Germany in 2005, as well as the bribing of referees in the 2006 Italian match fixing scandal.All these cases are mentioned and examined in Declan Hill's good but somewhat depressing book about match-fixing in football.Depressing because, as Mr. Hill himself mentions in the book, all football fans like myself would rather not know about this. We keep living in an ideal world, defending poor refereeing (even when we demand TV to help out referees, some people say that the game should allow for referee mistakes. After reading this: should we also allow for purposeful "mistakes"?) as well as idealizing players and the ideals of fair play in the game.Surely most people involved in football are dignified and fair people, but we are still blinded to the fact that some players have known to be corrupt, as Mr. Hill documents. Lack of income, clubs without money, and the sheer funds involved in gambling make the possibility of match fixing way to real, even at the highest level. While he never definitely proves fixing of matches at the 2006 World Cup (and this is a weakness in the book as one cannot help but feel that he has stretched his argument), the insinuations are there that one cannot help but be sad about it.While the author looks at match fixing in Asia, Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Finland are just some examples where he documents massive fixing within the last 20 years) and in the World Cup. It would be interesting if he had also looked at South America, and even more deeply into Spain, where many clubs in deep economic crises seem to have fertile ground for match fixers to operate.But the sad truth is that either there is too much money (and thus power) in fixing and too little interest in destroying the dream of "the beautiful game" for authorities to take real action against the problem. According to Mr. Hill, there is even implicit complicity by football authorities by refusing to investigate cases as one he mentions taking place during the 2007 Women's World Cup or by giving administrative positions to people who have been known to be involved in match fixing.Although really depressing, the book ends with a positive note, where Mr. Hill uses the case of football in the poorest and most violent neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya, to show that football in spite of it all still can bring a lot of positive with it.Still, a good book, with its flaws, that should help football fans to open their eyes to some sad realities in the beautiful game.

5 of 5 Starts.Being interested in sport and betting, "The Fix" is a must read. I can only confirm that Declan Hill really seem to know what he is writing about and backing up his material with several eye-opening references. I will not spoil the reading just mention that this book is a real page-turner. Everyone will learn something and be able to take something from this book. Declan Hill's "The Fix" and Andrew Jennings "Lord of the Rings" are truly the top-titles when we talk about the darker sides of our beloved sports.

A real eye opener

The beautiful game was ruined when I read this book lol but hey there’s corruption and scandals in all sports. I ordered this because I heard so much about it. Well worth the read!

A must read for any soccer fan. You’ll want to go to YouTube and rewatch many of the games referenced

WOW will never be able to watch a soccer game again without wondering if a bad play was intentional or if a bad call was intentionalamazing book would recommend that every soccer fan read, actually any sport fan

Defintitely makes me think twice when I watch a soccer game. I always wondered why some things seemed to fixed.

Great book, quick delivery.

Great research, author is also a very good story teller. Disturbing facts for any sports fan. You will never watch a game with the same perspective.

interesting story line but poorly written, I expected better writing from a journalist

This book is about corruption in the football world.It's a review of a long-term investigation made by Declan Hill through a decades at the 4 corner of the world.It explains very well how things work and how strings are pulled. Power is at the center of this book.Unfortunately, a lot of those information were already "common rumors" (Asian championships, Eastern European championships, second-zone competitions ...) and this book brings just a couple of more 5-stars information (above all on the FIFA world cup).To summarize, Chapter 1 and 2 are interested to understand the process of corruption, and the last chapter to see a practical example on 3 main FIFA world cup matchs ! In-between, the author repeats a lot the same ideas, bringing his personal life a bit too much in front of the scene.

The information in the book was interesting, but it was presented in such a haphazard, anecdotal way that it was hard to follow. It might have been a bit better if someone who was actually an investigative journalist (I believe the author is a statistician) edited or collaborated with Hill and made the whole thing more systematic & readable.

I thought this book would be good based on the subject matter. Seriously disappointed. Hats off to the author he certainly tried to research and did a lot of investigation and travel. He makes several references to Oxford and his studies and that was the problem - it was like reading a thesis as opposed to a good book. I wanted to finish it but I was not looking forward to going back to it each evening. It certainly was not the worst book I ever read I just think it could be much more than it was. Final problem I will mention - it talks a lot about rumour, certain results etc. but nothing concrete. There is always a lack of evidence.