Illegal influence on the outcome of an official sporting event as corruption

Aim: the paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-bribery legislation with respect to athletes, referees, coaches, heads of sports teams, and other participants or organizers of official sports events. Materials and methods. The paper involves the analysis of Russian and international legislation imposing responsibility for illegal influence on the outcome of sports events. The authors studied doctrinal sources related to the features of the elements of the crime covered by article 184 of the Criminal Code of Russia, as well as the materials of judicial decision making and other relevant data. The research also involved a combination of general and special scientific methods. Results. In the system of national legislation, article 184 of the Criminal Code of Russia is the only norm that prevents corruption in sport. The wording of the elements of this crime has significant defects that prevent its application for law enforcement activities and the reduction of corruption risks by legal means. The presence of internal contradictions and defects of technical and legal nature with respect to this norm was substantiated. Conclusion. The need for correction of article 184 of the Criminal Code of Russia (legal description of the elements of crime) and the search for its place in the system of legal prohibitions was substantiated. A number of proposals of organizational and legal nature was made to improve the system of anti-corruption measures in sport.