Integrity Concerns Mount As UEFA Issues Match-Fixing Alert

integrity concerns betting coronavirus

Editor’s Note: The dearth of sports betting options has funneled bettors to faraway leagues and niche sports to get their sports betting fix. As a result, US bettors are getting a crash course not just on strategy but also on other pitfalls that lurk in unfamiliar territory.

Worries regarding the integrity of what remains of the European soccer fixture list have prompted UEFA to issue a warning about match-fixers attempting to take advantage in these extraordinary circumstances.

The warning comes after the news broke of a ghost tournament that supposedly took place in Ukraine at the end of March.

The incident led to competing versions of what took place from the Ukrainian Football Federation and data supplier Betgenius. The latter insisted it had evidence the games took place, while the former pointed to the absolute lockdown of players, meaning that it had no idea of who might have taken part in the games.

Now the European soccer governing body has said it is worried that the few games remaining in Europe “will be at greater risk of targeting by match-fixers.”

“These matches may involve youth leagues or lower-tier clubs, whose players have yet to benefit from match-fixing prevention training, or club friendlies, which may be subject to less scrutiny or press attention,” the UEFA statement added. “We similarly judge there to be a heightened risk of so-called ‘ghost matches’ in which fixers create matches – inventing line-ups, stats, and match outcome – for offer on betting markets but no player or referee ever enters the pitch.”

UEFA said that it had received a report on the ghost game episode in Ukraine but didn’t disclose any further details.

It also cited instances reported in Sweden, where some seventh and eighth tier football was still taking place in later March and where players were being contacted by people seeking inside info on the games. UEFA cited players as being subject to a “barrage of social media messages.”

UEFA’s Nine-Point Checklist for Federation Integrity Officers

Here’s what UEFA recommends:

  • Review local COVID-19 restrictions as they pertain to football. Are there any provisions that would allow match-play under certain circumstances, such as without spectators?
  • Are club friendlies currently allowed? 
  • Do clubs systematically inform the FA prior to scheduling and playing club friendlies?
  • Do you currently monitor social media, local press, or betting operator sites for ghost matches?
  • Do you employ a domain monitoring service to detect registration of typo or lookalike domains for malicious purposes?
  • Are your clubs aware of the risk of ghost matches?
  • Have you sent awareness messages to clubs highlighting risks related to COVID-19 or conducted additional at-distance prevention training?
  • Have you considered what changes to the current situation would impact your risk assessment and begun monitoring for same?

Betting Industry On Alert

In its recent first-quarter 2020 report, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) said there had been seven alerts reported since the widespread suspension of sport across the globe in late March, The report did not report from which sports and regions those alerts emanated.

Khalid Ali, chief executive of the IBIA, pointed out its members were “making all reasonable efforts” to protect the sporting events that are being offered. He added, though, that there was a misconception that “all markets were equal” in terms of bets placed.

This is clearly not the case. “Operators are aware that lower-level sport presents specific challenges, and the level of betting allowed is set with that in mind,” Ali added. “In short, the amounts customers are permitted to bet are low on these events.”

Match Fixing Warning Signs

Still, worries are emerging in various jurisdictions over precisely what types of events are currently featuring among sports-betting offerings. Danish lottery operator Dansk Spil shuttered its YouBet operation earlier this week. The shutdown stems from supplier SBTech still running bet offerings on Swedish amateur football against the express wishes of Dansk Spil that such games should not be offered.

Reports suggest the site is now back up and running after an ‘integrity audit’ on the part of SBTech.

Meanwhile, the chief executive and chairman of Svenska Spel in Sweden have also said they were disappointed in Swedish amateur football being offered by other sports-betting operators in the Swedish market.

The fear among the bookies will be that such admonitions will percolate through to the regulators and potentially football itself with restrictions being imposed on what level of event can be bet on.

“I can see the Scandinavian (regulators) will go that route,” said Mark Thomas, partner at betting operations consultancy Propus Partners. “Maybe also Spain and Italy. The UK Gambling Commission is trying to keep things as open as possible, and I think they believe that prohibition doesn’t work. But they may also be forced to do something.”

Thomas suggested a voluntary measure might be introduced, but determining which events should be avoided would be no easy task. “Where do you draw the line on quality?” he asked.

Global Monitoring Of Match Fixing

Meanwhile, Ali suggests operators will need to keep an ever-watchful eye. “While we expect the number of alerts to be down in the second quarter, from the 61 in the first quarter, we are advising our members of the need for increased vigilance.

“In what is a particularly challenging trading environment for the sector, it is more apparent than ever that sporting and betting market integrity both benefit from operators being part of a global integrity monitoring system and IBIA welcomes moves in a number of markets to require that as a licensing condition.”

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