Suspicious Betting Trends in Global Football 2019 Report released by Stats Perform Integrity and Starlizard Integrity Services

Today, Stats Perform Integrity and Starlizard Integrity Services released their second annual Suspicious Betting Trends in Global Football Report. The report was completed in collaboration with TXODDS and aims to provide fellow stakeholders in the sports integrity community with a meaningful and informative overview of current trends in suspicious football betting.

The 2019 report was compiled with data from 62,250 football matches played in 2018, including domestic and international competitions across 115 countries and 6 continents. It compares the findings from the 2018 report and, once again, examines the geographical hotbeds of suspicious activity, breaks down suspicious matches by level and competition, and looks in detail at youth, international, friendly and women’s matches.

Please read the full report here

Highlights of the 2019 Suspicious Betting Trends in Global Football Report:

Perhaps most significantly, whilst this year’s report is based on the review of nearly 14% more matches than in the previous year and uses the same methodology, the number of matches identified as having suspicious betting patterns has decreased from 397 to 377.

Youth matches continue to be an area of particular concern. Although this year’s report shows that the number of suspicious youth matches has declined from 62 matches seen in 2017 to 58 matches in 2018, they are still highly overrepresented in this year’s report: youth matches account for 5.6% of all matches analysed in this year’s report, but 15.4% of all suspicious matches identified.

Success story: The 2018 report identified suspicious betting markets in a particular European country, predominantly in a lower level league. Effective action by a sport rights holder and law enforcement in that country led to a number of arrests in the first quarter of 2018, disrupting what is believed to have be an organised, cross-border match-fixing operation. Since then, there has been a marked decrease in matches with suspicious betting activity identified in that country. This positive outcome is a testament to the appetite shown to confront the issue.

Jake Marsh, Head of Integrity Stats Perform:

“This report is intended to provide football and integrity stakeholders with a meaningful insight into matches with suspicious betting markets on a global scale. We believe that by shining a light on suspicious activity in a non-accusatory public forum we can elevate understanding of the latest trends and areas of concern to integrity stakeholders. The efforts of integrity stakeholders, sports governing bodies and law enforcement are amplified when working together towards a common goal. To this end, we share the results of our analysis with stakeholders on a non-commercial basis in order to assist their efforts in protecting the integrity of football.”

Affy Sheikh, Head of Starlizard Integrity Services:

“It is important that the football world remains diligent and alert to integrity threats at all levels of the game. In producing this report, a huge effort has been made and a vast amount of data analysed