28-614.

Tampering with publicly exhibited contest; penalty; contest, participant, official, defined.

(1) A person commits the offense of tampering with a publicly exhibited contest if:

(a) He confers, or offers or agrees to confer, directly or indirectly, any benefit upon:

(i) A contest participant with intent to influence him not to give his best efforts in a publicly exhibited contest; or

(ii) A contest official with intent to influence him to perform improperly his duties in connection with a publicly exhibited contest;

(b) Being a contest participant or contest official, he intentionally solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept, directly or indirectly, any benefit from another person with intent that he will thereby be influenced:

(i) In the case of a contest participant, not to give his best efforts in a publicly exhibited contest; or

(ii) In the case of a contest official, to perform improperly his duties in connection with a publicly exhibited contest; or

(c) With intent to influence the outcome of a publicly exhibited contest he:

(i) Tampers with any contest participant, contest official, animal, equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or operation of the contest, in a manner contrary to the rules and usages purporting to govern the contest in question; or

(ii) Substitutes a contest participant, animal, equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or operation of the contest, for the genuine person, animal, or thing.

(2) In this section:

(a) Publicly exhibited contest shall mean any professional or amateur sport, athletic game or contest, or race or contest involving machines, persons, or animals, viewed by the public, but shall not include an exhibition which does not purport to be and which is not represented as being such a sport, game, contest, or race;

(b) Contest participant shall mean any person who participates or expects to participate in a publicly exhibited contest as a player, contestant, or member of a team, or as a coach, manager, trainer, or other person directly associated with a player, contestant, or team; and

(c) Contest official shall mean any person who acts or expects to act in a publicly exhibited contest as an umpire, referee, or judge, or otherwise to officiate at a publicly exhibited contest.

(3) Tampering with a publicly exhibited contest is a Class II misdemeanor.