The Dark Side of the Game: Why Betting Integrity Matters
Millions of people all around the world enjoy watching sport and plenty of those also enjoy wagering on the biggest events at the best sports betting sites.
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In principle, there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as the bookie is a safe and trusted one and customers engage in responsible gambling. But sadly, it’s not as simple as that.
Sports, betting and match-fixing have history
Here’s the definition of match-fixing as per the website of UEFA, European football’s governing body.
“Match-fixing is the manipulation of the course or outcome of a football match, whether for sporting, financial or other reasons, and represents a fundamental violation of our sport’s universal values, such as trust and integrity.”
Examples of it over the decades included dozens of Serie A and Serie B football matches particularly in the 1980s and 90s, attempts to fix snooker matches involving such high-profile players as Stephen Lee and John Higgins (both of whom were banned), the famous case of top tennis player Nikolay Davydenko at the Sopot tournament in 2007 and the three Pakistani players who were found guilty of spot-fixing in 2010, banned from playing and eventually jailed.
What’s the future looking like in the fight against corruption in sport?
Mostly bright. There have been far fewer examples of match-fixing in sport recently than in the past.
This is a result of more anti-corruption units being in place, greater use of technology such as identifying(money) paper trails, greater general awareness and sportspeople being afraid to engage in it because of the consequences: from fines, to bans, and even prison.
A report by the Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) who come under the UK Gambling Commission found that the ‘Total unusual and/or suspicious betting reports submitted’ was thankfully, declining. From (April) 2021 to 2022 there were 607 cases, from 2022 to 2023 509 cases and from April 2023 to April 2024, just 443. That’s just one example, but a good sign that things are improving.
Why match-fixing has to be fought
Here’s more from the UEFA website about match-fixing, whether in a betting context or otherwise.
“It is often associated with serious criminal activities such as corruption, fraud and money laundering, with profits benefitting other criminal networks. Typically, match-fixing transcends national borders, making detection and prosecution difficult.”
With this in mind, let’s consider the big problems match-fixing creates.
• Criminals are benefitting financially from it, in some cases using proceeds to fund terrorist activities.
• Both punters and betting sites can be cheated out of their money (depending on who’s fixing what!) through no fault of their own.
• Fans of the sport may start to question the integrity of the sport they love and stop watching it.
• It can permanently ruin the careers of sportspeople who may be dragged into it against their will.
• It’s time consuming and expensive for all involved to monitor it.
How we can stop match-fixing
Sporting associations like UEFA or the International Cricket Council (ICC), betting sites, the police and other stakeholders all do their bit to try and fight match-fixing.
For example, it was the UK-based betting company Betfair that alerted the ATP, and later the police, to suspicious betting patterns around the match involving Russian player Davydenko at Sopot. Eventually all bets on the match were void, while Davydenko was the subject of the longest investigation of its kind in tennis.
In turn, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit:
“…welcomes any information about corruption in cricket including information on match fixing, gambling in cricket by participating cricket players / match officials, or any other information relating to attempts by potential corruptors to compromise the players or match officials in any manner.”
Whereas the ICC have measures in place themselves such as banning the use of mobile phones by players in the dressing room and monitoring passages of play in the actual games, they also have a ‘whistleblower phone number’ that anyone can contact if they have suspicions of match-fixing.
![James Pacheco](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.sportsboom.com%2FJames_Pacheco_ed7fe2905a.png&w=384&q=75)
James has been writing about cricket, football and tennis betting for the best part of 20 years for some of the biggest operators, websites and publications in the industry. Heroes and heroines include Paul Scholes, Chris DiMarco, Anastasia Myskina, Richard Gasquet, Nat-Sciver Brunt and Kumar Sangakarra.
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