The rise of legalized sports betting in America has come with controversy — particularly around the possibility that players would be involved changing the outcome of games.
But it's easy to forget that match fixing and other forms of betting or bribery have been involved in sports for a long time — and still exist well outside the confines of major sportsbooks like DraftKings.
An example was seen earlier this week when Frank Chamizo, a wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, alleged that he had been offered $300,000 to lose a match in a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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Chamizo, a Cuban immigrant representing Italy, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that he was bribed to lose the semifinals match of an Olympic qualifying tournament held last week in Azerbaijan against home grown wrestler Turan Bayramov.
“So I want to say it, they came to me and offered me $300,000 to lose. I don’t want to say who but it happened on the morning of the weigh-in," Chamizo told La Repubblica in a report translated by the Associated Press.
The Italian hopeful claims he did not take the offer because he represents himself and Italy, and that he didn't want to break his "integrity."
He would go on to lose his semifinal match, but the manner in which he lost was controversial as well. Chamizo was given the match-winning points by the referee, only for the points to be rescinded after a challenge from Bayramov's coach.
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Chamizo took to Instagram to post the video of the loss, writing in the caption of the video in Spanish: “I want to apologize to those who are looking at this, my sport is beautiful. This is just a group of bribed and corrupt people. How sad. My heart is crying.”
His post received support from several other Olympians in the comments, including American and 2016 Gold Medalist Helen Maroulis who said: "This is terrible, you got robbed!
Chamizo, who has won multiple gold medals in wrestling world championships, can still qualify for the Paris Olympics during the world qualification tournament next month in Turkey.
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