On Tuesday, the Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, passed in the first reading the bill providing for the toughening of punishment for match-fixing.

      The bill, a set of amendments to the law "On Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation," proposes disbanding federations that fail to ban athletes or team officials suspected of taking bribes, or fail to report fixing cases to the police.

      All people having an ability to affect a result of a game or a competition would not be allowed to place bets on their sport disciplines. The betting agents themselves would have new responsibilities too. In particular, they will be obliged to inform the police about large payouts on outside bets.

      The bill must pass three readings in the State Duma, then voted upon in the parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council, and after that signed into law by the president.