Tere is no doubt that sport betting corruption presents a danger to consumers and the integrity of sporting events. But is there evidence to suggest that match fixing is getting worse? If so, what new methods are criminals coming up with to manipulate the results of matches?


Te extent of match-fixing globally, across regulated and unregulated betting, isn’t fully known. Some parties have tried to estimate it but as there is little robust data for the unregulated market, in particular, there is no verifiable and secure dataset available. It is important to recognise that many poorly regulated betting operators, and those in the unregulated market, simply don’t report suspicious betting and potential match-fixing. Law enforcement authorities like Europol and Interpol cite these operators as the ones most likely to be targeted and utilised by corrupters.


From IBIA’s data alone, you can see that the situation is quite fluid at present, especially with the impact of the pandemic which brought an increased focus on certain sports which hadn’t been the case previously. Albeit it is important to factor in that IBIA is constantly growing and so is its market coverage and any consideration of alert numbers needs to take that into account. At present, we are expecting that the 2021 alert figure will be close to the mid-point of the previous four years. In other words, we don’t expect any meaningful change in the overall suspicious betting alert position for IBIA members, although the sports on which those alerts are generated may show an evolution.


Te tactics employed by corrupters are constantly shifting. IBIA and its members are aware of this. Obviously, it wouldn’t be prudent to start listing the types of monitoring activity IBIA and its members conduct and thereby giving corrupters the opportunity to understand our counter-corruption tactics. Suffice to say that it is a fight where IBIA members make a sizeable investment in measures to identify and punish corruption, and where that is committed long-term.


Know your customer and know your transactions are the most effective ways to monitor betting integrity. Te bigger that IBIA’s membership gets - which already covers the largest regulated betting market share of any transaction-based monitoring system at $137bn of betting turnover per annum - the harder that we can make it for corrupters to bypass security measures. Tose operators outside of the IBIA shield are at a sizeable disadvantage and at a far greater chance of being targeted and being the victims of fraud, along with the loss in reputation and income that goes with that.


How big is the problem currently? How much do legal operators lose due to match fixing?


Whilst there is no reliable value for suspicious betting and potential match-fixing covering the


Khalid Ali, Chief Executive Officer The International Betting Integrity Association


The International Betting Integrity Association is the leading global voice on integrity for the licensed betting industry. It is run by operators for operators, protecting its members from corruption through collective action. Its monitoring and alert platform is a highly effective anti-corruption tool that detects and reports suspicious activity on its members’ betting markets.


The association has longstanding information sharing partnerships with leading sports and gambling regulators to utilise its data and prosecute corruption. It represents the sector at high-level policy discussion forums such as the IOC, UN, Council of Europe and European Commission.


IBIA represents around 85 retail and online/remote sports betting brands, including many globally recognised household names across six continents, and covering US$137bn of global betting turnover per annum through their regulated businesses.


“The bigger that IBIA’s membership gets - which already covers the largest


regulated betting market share of any transaction-based


monitoring system at $137bn of betting turnover per annum - the harder that we can make it for corrupters to bypass security measures.” Khalid Ali


global regulated and unregulated betting market, IBIA’s Optimum Betting Market study does contain a reasonably reliable calculation for the cost of this fraudulent activity solely to the regulated sector.


H2 Gambling Capital conducted an examination of a detailed set of data unique to IBIA operators and a consideration of the related position within the wider regulated sector. Tis evidenced-based evaluation is founded on a set of robust operator market and alert data from a substantial part of the sector. Tat included


customer transactional data (e.g., bet size, average odds, amounts won) from those proven corrupted events, along with analysis of sporting tribunal and criminal judgments, and media reports of confirmed corruption, amongst other data.


Te subsequent analysis calculated that the global regulated betting industry loses in the range of c.$19m - $28m per annum from match- fixing, with a reasonable mid-point being around $25m per annum. It is important to remember that this is just the regulated sector. Losses for the unregulated sector are too difficult to quantify with any comparable assessment.


Te IBIA recently published a report: An Optimum Betting Market. Could you highlight some of its findings when it comes to the best regulatory approach when it comes to preventing match fixing?


Te Optimum Betting Market study sought to focus on three main themes: evaluate various betting frameworks globally; examine betting restrictions and the cost of match fixing; and identify best practice models for an optimum betting market.


To achieve these objectives, an independent assessment of the success of the regulatory position for betting in twenty jurisdictions across six continents and covering differing licensing models was conducted. Five key criteria - regulation, taxation, product, integrity, and advertising - were identified as the cornerstones of a successful regulatory market structure for land-based and online betting.


Each was allotted a measurable score and employed as a benchmark to assess the prevailing framework in a select number of jurisdictions globally. Te integrity aspect covers issues such as the requirement to report suspicious betting activity, integrity guidance material for operators, establishment of national integrity platforms and obligation to be part of a monitoring association.


Tere is too much detail to cover regarding that assessment, and I’d encourage anyone interested to read the report. In short, the assessment determined ten key pillars backed-up by a robust evidence base that are most likely to generate a successful well-regulated betting framework, in other words and ‘optimum betting market’.


Effective regulation, internationally competitive tax, wide product availability, integrity provisions and the availability to advertise are the cornerstones of that optimum model. Tose pillars are key to achieving a high channelisation of consumers to licensed onshore operators and to maintaining the integrity of that market and related sports events on which betting takes place.


WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P43


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