IAGA SUMMIT BELFAST SPORTS INTEGRITY IBIA
A dynamic, competitive and healthy regulated sports betting market is essential to the fight against sports betting related match-fixing.
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Unregulated sports betting is the primary source of sports integrity issues. As Interpol and Europol have stated, criminal match- fixers primarily target unregulated sports betting operators in Asian jurisdictions.
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Match-fixing to manipulate sports competitions and defraud regulated betting operators only accounts for a small proportion of match-fixing in sport.
- IBIAs 2021 Optimum Betting Market Study found that: there were no suspicious betting alerts on 99.96% of the 650,000 sports events (including horse racing) annually between 2017-2020.
- From over 150,000 football matches annually on which regulated operator offered bets during 2017-2020, only 0.03% of matches were flagged for potential integrity issues.
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IBIA and its members work to eliminate sports betting related match-fixing from regulated sports betting markets through prevention, monitoring, and deterrence.
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IBIA’s powerful international integrity monitoring and alert network harnesses the collective resources and expertise of the world’s largest regulated sports betting operators’ and their internal control systems.
- Working closely with many of the world’s biggest regulated sports betting operators, it monitors and analyses approximately US$150bn in betting transactions on approximately 650,000 competitive sporting events globally and provides regulators, law enforcement and sports federations with the most robust and detailed intelligence on suspicious betting activity.
Corruption in sport is motivated by many factors, and sports betting related match-fixing is a small part of a much bigger picture.
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Tere are many types of corruption that can be detrimental to sports and the integrity of sports competition. Te vast majority of these, like financial fraud or doping, are not sports betting related.
- Non-betting related or so-called “sporting- related match-fixing” (for prestige) is the most prevalent form of match-fixing.
- An EU funded study, coordinated by the University of Ghent, reported in 2021 that almost 70% of those approached to fix a match were approached for sporting-related purposes only.
- Te study states that: “Despite the clear threat of sporting-related match-fixing, this type of match-fixing is often underestimated. Tere is a clear danger that this sporting manipulation,
P80 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
which continues to go largely unaddressed by sport and policymakers, provides a gateway into subsequent betting related corruption.”
- Match-fixing to manipulate sports competitions and defraud regulated betting operators has become a high-profile issue in recent years, however, it only accounts for a small proportion of the match-fixing in sport.
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- Te University of Ghent study found that, “Only 10 per cent of the participants who had already been approached for match-fixing indicated that the proposal was made solely
Matt Fowler Director of Integrity International Betting Integrity Association
“The successful investigation and prosecution of numerous match-fixers proves that this cooperation works. During 2022 successful sporting or criminal sanctions were
announced against 15 teams or players where IBIA had
reported suspicious activity on their matches.”
“The unfortunate truth is that corrupting sporting
competitions to defraud
betting markets requires the active involvement of
vulnerable players. To keep our customers safe, we need to keep athletes safe from corrupters.”
for the purpose of making money by betting on the manipulated match”.
- Economic challenges and a lack of education also make some athletes and officials vulnerable to exploitation by criminals.
- Te study also found that in most cases people were offered money and sometimes other material inducements to accept a match-fixing proposal.
- Tis is particularly the case for athletes that are not well paid.
- Tere is a specific challenge for athletes playing in high profile leagues, such as USA college sports, who are not paid
- However, sports betting related match-fixing can happen at any level of sport.
Sports, policymakers, regulators, law enforcement and regulated sports betting operators have a shared interest in eliminating match-fixing. We work together on policy and educational initiatives, investigations, and prosecutions to stop sports betting customers being defrauded.
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Regulated sports betting operators safeguard customers from match-fixing related fraud by monitoring and reporting suspicious betting activity to sports and gambling regulators.
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IBIA members are the first line of defence against betting-related match-fixing and provide a safe and secure environment for sports betting customers.
- IBIA’s members work with gambling regulators to suspend or remove sports betting markets that are found to have high volumes of suspicious betting activity or ethical issues.
- Te successful investigation and prosecution of numerous match-fixers proves that this cooperation works. During 2022 successful sporting or criminal sanctions were announced against 15 teams or players where IBIA had reported suspicious activity on their matches.
Educating players, officials, and other sporting personnel about the dangers of match-fixing is key to protecting the integrity of sporting competition.
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Te unfortunate truth is that corrupting sporting competitions to defraud betting markets requires the active involvement of vulnerable players. To keep our customers safe, we need to keep athletes safe from corrupters.
In summary stamping out match-fixing entirely will never be possible but risk can be significantly reduced by good regulation, effective education programmes and cooperation across multiple stakeholders.
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