{"id":189341,"date":"2021-10-18T11:30:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T18:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=189341"},"modified":"2021-10-18T11:52:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T18:52:01","slug":"soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"Soccer Match-Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of soccer matches under suspicion of match-fixing fell in 2020, despite concerns<\/a> that the financial pressures of COVID-19 might exacerbate the problem.<\/p>\n

\"match-fixing\"
Far from fueling match-fixing in soccer, the pandemic appears to have thrown up some challenges of its own for corrupting gambling syndicates. (Image: Guardian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to new betting market analysis from sports integrity firms Stats Perform and Starlizard, 217 (0.35 percent) of 61,296 games across the world were flagged as suspicious last year. While fewer games were played because of the pandemic, the figures represent a reduction in both real and percentage terms from the 456 (0.56 percent) matches in last year\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

The two companies\u2019 figures across the past three years suggest that soccer match-fixing has been on the wane for a while. Suspicious games have dropped more than 50 percent since their first report from 2018.<\/p>\n

There was speculation the pandemic would provide an opportunity for fixers. As it exerted its financial squeeze on sports, the theory was it would render players, referees, coaches, and team presidents more susceptible to corruption.<\/p>\n

Fixers in a Fix<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the study appears to corroborate a recent claim<\/a> by Benoit Pasquier, general counsel and director of legal affairs for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). He told Reuters last year that while the illegal gambling market in Asia was bigger than ever, the tide was turning against the fixers.<\/p>\n

According to Pasquier, match-fixing used to be controlled by a small number of large crime syndicates, many of which have been broken up by law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

With key figures being imprisoned or disrupted, and very high-profile cases being discussed in the media, match-fixing over the last five years has become much more fragmented,\u201d said Pasquier. \u201cThere are now more \u2018lone wolves\u2019, with local gangs and syndicates more common.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Stats Perform and Starlizard suggest that, far from fueling match-fixing, the pandemic presented these lone wolves with difficult new challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen in previous reports how the number of suspicious matches in a country can quickly increase once those looking to manipulate [soccer] matches for financial gain establish a foothold,\u201d wrote the authors.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, there would have been increased challenges for a match-fixing organization to assert itself in a country in 2020, given the sudden and unexpected way in which COVID-19 shifted the betting focus on to this small number of countries, as well as in light of the logistical problems caused by travel during the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Africa Overtakes Asia <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once fertile ground for fixers, just 0.41 percent of all Asian matches analyzed in 2020 were identified as suspicious, a third of the 2019 proportion. Europe was also down by more than half from 2019.<\/p>\n

Of all continents, Africa had the highest number of suspicious games<\/a>, overtaking Asia for the first time. However, six of the continent\u2019s seven suspicious games were played in the same country, which the report declines to name. Even here, there was a significant reduction from the 20 games identified in the same country in 2019.<\/p>\n

\n

The only continent to experience an increase was North America, including Central America, although, at 0.26 percent, this was still significantly below the global average.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The report also said that match-fixing at the highest levels of the game globally was practically non-existent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term effects of COVID-19 on sports integrity are yet to be seen, and whilst the decrease in suspicious matches this year is most certainly welcome, it is too early to say whether this will continue to be an ongoing trend, or whether it has been caused by a truly exceptional set of circumstances,\u201d the report concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The number of soccer matches under suspicion of match-fixing fell in 2020, despite concerns that the financial pressures of COVID-19 might exacerbate the problem. According to new betting market analysis from sports integrity firms Stats Perform and Starlizard, 217 (0.35 percent) of 61,296 games across the world were flagged as suspicious last year. While fewer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":189343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSoccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-18T18:30:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-18T18:52:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1193\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"865\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/\",\"name\":\"Soccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-18T18:30:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-18T18:52:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg\",\"width\":1193,\"height\":865,\"caption\":\"from fueling match-fixing in soccer, the pandemic appears to have thrown up some challenges of its own for corrupting gambling syndicates. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Soccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests","description":"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Soccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests","og_description":"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-10-18T18:30:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-18T18:52:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1193,"height":865,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/","name":"Soccer Match Fixing on the Slide Globally, New Analysis Suggests","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-18T18:30:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-18T18:52:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Match-fixing in soccer is falling globally, as suspicious matches drop by 50 percent in three years, according to sports integrity firms.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/soccer-match-fixing-on-the-slide-globally-new-analysis-suggests\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/saccer.jpg","width":1193,"height":865,"caption":"from fueling match-fixing in soccer, the pandemic appears to have thrown up some challenges of its own for corrupting gambling syndicates. 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