Esports wagers drive IBIA suspicious betting alerts in Q2
Integrity firm’s quarterly report found 90 suspicious betting alerts in Q2, with esports accounting for more than 50%
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has recorded 90 suspicious betting alerts worldwide during Q2 2024.
The warnings came from eight different sports, spread across 25 countries and five continents.
Esports was the most flagged sport with 48 suspicious betting alerts, equivalent to 54% of the Q2 total.
This total increased significantly from the single alert for esports received in Q2 2023 and is up slightly from the 43 suspicious esports alerts in Q1 2024.
IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said the esports situation is being “monitored closely” by the company. He explained: “An increase in the Q2 and revised Q1 alerts compared to previous quarters is primarily related to a linked case in esports. The situation is being monitored closely and heightened vigilance advocated as we seek to work with stakeholders to investigate.”
“While the increase in alerts may understandably draw attention, it should be noted that esports saw a significant reduction in annual alerts across IBIA’s membership in 2023.
“The case again highlights the importance and effectiveness of customer account monitoring in the detection of suspicious betting and the protection of sporting events, consumers and regulated betting markets,” Ali added.
Elsewhere, football came in second with 16 alerts, followed by table tennis with 12, tennis with nine and badminton with two.
Boxing, padel and handball made up the rest of the suspicious betting alerts for Q2 with one apiece.
The most alerts came from Europe (19), with 11 coming from Africa, five from South America, four from Asia and three from North America.
Poland had the highest number of alerts from a single country with six, all of which stemmed from table tennis-related bets.
Algeria had four football-related betting alerts, Nigeria followed with three alerts for table tennis and one for football, while Spain had three for table tennis.
IBIA entered into an integrity partnership with Genius Sports back in June, with its focus being on introducing anti-match-fixing initiatives.