IBIA reports 14% increase in suspicious betting alerts in 2022
Tennis and football account for 63% of all red flags raised over suspect wagering around the world
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has revealed suspicious betting alerts increased by 14% year on year (YoY) as tennis and football continue to draw the most alerts.
In total, 268 cases were reported over the course of 2022, higher than the 230-case average between 2019 and 2021.
Breaking down the year, Q4 saw 50 alerts adding to the 90 in Q3, 80 in Q2 and 48 in Q1. The 268 alerts spanned 14 different sports and 61 different countries. Europe saw 126 alerts, with Asia seeing 51 and North America 22.
Tennis (102 alerts) and football (67) accounted for 63% of all cases during 2022 with Europe accounting for 50% of all total alerts.
Tennis saw an increase YoY of 27% on the 80 reported in 2021, with 25 of these matches forwarded to the International Tennis Integrity Agency as intelligence reports, as they did not relate to events that are sanctioned by the main tennis tours.
Elsewhere, 15% of all football alerts emanated from India, however total global football alerts had increased by just one alert YoY.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “The protective shield provided by IBIA is a vital tool in identifying and sanctioning attempted corruption on regulated betting markets.
“That has been underlined by welcome successful prosecutions during 2022 based on IBIA data, and we expect further corroboration of the association’s important positive impact and collaborative approach to be evident throughout 2023.”
In total IBIA reporting was successful in obtaining sporting or criminal sanctions against 15 teams, officials or players during 2022.
Coinciding with IBIA’s figures, Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS), a business started by Brighton chairman and former professional gambler Tony Bloom, announced that in 2022 it had assessed 144 football matches globally as suspicious.
Of these, 51 were played in the UEFA region, down from 70, with 46 coming from Asia.
Of the 144 suspicious matches, 48 (33%) took place in top-level domestic competitions.
SIS also noted that the number of suspicious youth matches had risen from just one in 2021 to 10 in 2022.