Chapter 75

Flegrsks took out a document from his briefcase, opened it, and handed it to Zhang Guan, pointing to a company logo and said, "Please look, this is the same. It seems to be the same company."

"What is this?" Zhang Guan pointed to the document and asked.

"This was provided to me by the Hong Kong side," Flegrsks continued. "According to the previously set plan, the funds would enter Hong Kong from the UK, but if you want to transfer the funds from Hong Kong to the mainland, it requires some more complicated procedures. As far as I know, your country has strict controls on foreign exchange conversion and circulation. Therefore, the Hong Kong side suggested that if the amount is large, the best method is to operate through mainland companies. Some companies can provide legal channels for foreign capital inflows, and this can save time and economic costs on the mainland. This document is a list and brief introduction of mainland companies recommended by the Hong Kong side for such operations."

Flegrsks pointed to the logo of Ming Consulting and continued, "You see, this company is clearly the same as the one on the business card you have. They have the same logo and even the same company name."

"But the business card shows that this is a consulting company! Can they engage in financial business?" Zhang Guan asked.

"The scope of business for consulting companies is generally broad. Even if a consulting company does not have the qualifications for financial business, they can still complete client requirements through third parties. I don't know the situation in your country, but in Europe, the political and business relationships of large consulting companies are comparable to those of multinational corporations. Even some multinational corporations need consulting companies for policy lobbying or product research," Flegrsks explained.

"It seems that Ming Consulting is quite impressive." Zhang Guan put away the business card and followed Flegrsks to a nearby restaurant.

...

Olympic Athletes Committee.

"We have just received a report, filed by the U.S. team. The content of the report is that the Olympic champion in the men's 100-meter sprint, Zhang Guan, is suspected of illegal profiteering through gambling, amounting to over 10 million euros." Vice Chairman Nicholas looked at the people present and continued, "Now, let's discuss whether we should accept this report."

The people present became alert, especially since it was a case worth 10 million euros, and the protagonist was Zhang Guan, who had just broken the world record and won the championship. One person immediately asked, "Vice Chairman, could you provide more details?"

"The situation is as follows: Before the track and field events began, or rather, before the Olympics officially started, Zhang Guan spent nearly 100,000 euros on lottery tickets, and he actually won. As a result, he made a profit of over 10 million euros." Nicholas looked at everyone and continued, "I'm sure everyone is curious about his bet. I can tell you that he bet all his money on himself, specifically on himself winning the Olympic championship. The odds at that time were extremely high, over 1:100. He won the race and the money. Based on the amount he bet and the odds, his profit definitely exceeded 10 million euros."

"Ah..." After a brief silence, everyone began to whisper.

There are no clear regulations in the Olympic Committee about whether athletes can participate in gambling. In other sports, such as the Premier League, there are clear regulations prohibiting Premier League athletes from buying lottery tickets related to the Premier League.

"Vice Chairman, our Olympic Committee does not have clear regulations prohibiting athletes from participating in gambling activities. So, from a rule perspective, this is not a violation. Could you tell us what the U.S. team specifically accused?" a committee member asked.

"Intentionally manipulating the results of the competition, violating the spirit and ethics of sports," Nicholas said.

In fact, the U.S. team initially planned to add a charge of illegal profiteering, but betting in legitimate gambling companies is legal, and the U.S. also has gambling companies. If the U.S. team dared to make such an accusation, it would offend gambling companies worldwide.

A committee member, hearing these charges, said, "The charge of intentionally manipulating the results of the competition is absurd. If an athlete loses a match, there might be a possibility of intentional manipulation, but I have never heard of an athlete intentionally winning a match! As an athlete, wanting to win a match is natural, isn't it? Does winning a match also require intention?"

This committee member was a former athlete and clearly resented the charge of "intentionally manipulating the results of the competition," so he emphasized the word "intentionally."

"Theoretically, the champion intentionally manipulating the results of the competition is possible, as long as he bribes the other participating athletes to lose to him," another person said.

"He would need to bribe 79 athletes," someone immediately responded.

"No, no, no, he only needs to bribe the athletes in his group," the person quickly countered.

"The 100-meter sprint has two races in one day. The athletes who advance are only known after the first race, so he cannot predict the groupings in advance," a committee member continued. "And don't forget his performance. He advanced to the semi-finals with the best overall time, then to the final with the best overall time, and ultimately won the championship by breaking the world record. Does he need to pay the previous world record holders to run slower to avoid breaking the world record? A world record proves that his championship is well-deserved."

Another committee member immediately added, "If we determine that the champion manipulated the competition, should we also determine that all previous Olympic champions manipulated the competition? This is clearly illogical."

The other committee members also expressed agreement, and Vice Chairman Nicholas said, "Since that's the case, we have a consensus on the issue of manipulating the competition. Next, let's discuss the charge of violating the spirit and ethics of sports."

"Our Olympic spirit is mutual understanding, long-lasting friendship, unity, and fair competition," the committee member who spoke earlier shrugged and continued, "I don't see how Zhang Guan violated our Olympic spirit."

"We usually determine that an athlete violates sports ethics based on the use of performance-enhancing drugs, false age reporting, and cheating in competitions. Currently, Zhang Guan has passed the drug tests; although we cannot prove Zhang Guan's real age, the Olympics is not the Youth Games, so there is no issue of being overage. The qualification for the 100-meter sprint is based on performance, not age, which does not affect sports ethics. As for cheating in the competition, I mentioned earlier that he broke the world record to win the championship, which sufficiently proves the authenticity of his performance," the committee member who spoke earlier said.

"But he bet on his own competition!"

"So what? He bet on himself winning. As an athlete, thinking he can win before the competition is natural, isn't it? Should we encourage athletes to think they will lose before the competition? Moreover, legal gambling is legal, and we have no regulations prohibiting athletes from participating in gambling activities."

"Our European gambling has a history of over a hundred years. Every year, hundreds of thousands of athletes compete in Europe, and I can confirm that other athletes have also bet on themselves winning. Therefore, betting on oneself winning cannot be a basis for punishment. The special aspect of this case is the amount of profit, which is extremely large. He was willing to bet 100,000 euros, indicating that he believed he could win the championship before the competition. So, I think this was a premeditated profit," someone immediately offered a different opinion.

"You're right. I also think that Zhang Guan's bet on himself was premeditated, but as you said, the premise of premeditated profit is that Zhang Guan believed he could win the Olympic championship. So, the question returns to whether athletes should believe they can win the championship before the competition," someone immediately responded.

"Gentlemen, I don't think we need to complicate this issue. In Europe, gambling is legal, so profiting from gambling is also legal. Therefore, we don't need to discuss this profit method. Every athlete wants to win, so betting on oneself winning is not a fault. Now, we only need to determine one thing: Is it correct for athletes to win the championship for the purpose of profit?" Nicholas pointed out the key issue.

"Is it correct for athletes to win the championship for the purpose of profit?"

No one in the room responded. This question seemed quite dialectical, and everyone seemed to be deep in thought.

After about a minute, someone suddenly said, "There should be prize money for the competition, right!"

In that moment, the question was no longer dialectical, and the problem was solved.

There is prize money for the competition. Regardless of the sport, as long as the prize money is high enough, many people will compete, and these athletes are not just there for the money. Some might say they are there for honor, but I believe they would still happily put the prize money in their pockets after winning.

In addition to the prize money, winning the championship might also bring other rewards. For example, Olympic champions receive rewards from their respective governments, some entrepreneurs, and local governments, all of which are in addition to the prize money.

Moreover, athletes' sponsors also give additional rewards for winning championships, sometimes even stipulated in contracts, such as earning a certain amount for reaching a certain level in a competition, winning a certain championship, or breaking a certain record. These rewards are only obtained after the athlete achieves a certain level of performance or wins the championship, which can also be seen as winning for profit.

Additionally, there are bounty rewards, which are also common and usually promised before the competition. For example, a wealthy person might promise an athlete, "If you win the Olympic championship, I will give you 10 million euros." The athlete then competes hard to win the championship for the 10 million euros, which can also be seen as winning for profit.

From this perspective, Zhang Guan's behavior is similar to a bounty reward, just with a different method. The wealthy person promises the athlete before the competition, while Zhang Guan essentially paid for a promise himself.

Winning the competition means earning money, and athletes competing for money is not a problem.

"If I'm not mistaken, the second place in the 100-meter sprint was an American. The U.S. team's report on Zhang Guan clearly has a specific purpose. Our ethics committee is dedicated to fairness, but we are not a tool for others," a committee member from Asia said.

"Exactly. If we accept this report, it will become a laughingstock. I suggest we do not accept this report," another person immediately added.

"Alright, it seems everyone has their own opinion. Let's vote directly," Nicholas raised his hand and said, "Committee members who believe we should accept this report, please raise your hands."

Everyone looked at each other, but no one raised their hand.

---

The first chapter is delivered. The main text has exceeded 3500 words. I'm currently stockpiling chapters, as new books need to burst at launch. I've accumulated quite a few words, and I will release them all during the launch month. Additionally, I will post a character-related Easter egg in the evening. Interested readers can compare it with the characters in the story.

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