IBIA and UEFA achieve zero suspicious betting activity during Euro 2024
Collaboration between European football's governing body and the International Betting Integrity Association ensured there was no suspicious betting activity over the course of Euro 2024
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has confirmed it played a part in UEFA’s bespoke anti-match-fixing action plan for Euro 2024.
On Friday 19 July, five days after the final, UEFA confirmed that no suspicious betting activity was found throughout the tournament nor were any other match-fixing concerns raised relating to matches at Euro 2024.
The competition, which was eventually won by Spain on July 14, took place over four weeks.
In the days leading up to the tournament, all 24 teams that qualified to compete took part in anti-match-fixing awareness sessions.
The IBIA was a member of UEFA’s anti-match-fixing assessment group, which saw the betting integrity organisation provide enhanced betting monitoring and intelligence over the course of the competition.
Each of the 24 national sides were given an in-depth, specific presentation which laid bare the recent trends of suspicious betting as well as stressing the importance of reporting any match-fixing-related approaches.
The anti-match-fixing assessment group for this tournament was made up of the same members that oversaw Euro 2020, boasting IBIA’s expertise as well as others from across the continent.
That includes contributions from core members such as Council of Europe, Group of Copenhagen, Europol and Interpol, while Sportradar, United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also participated.
The assessment group convened both before and during the tournament with a focus on betting reports, participant and match information alongside information received through reporting mechanisms and other sources.
The IBIA recently revealed that in Q1 2024, football was the sport that reported the highest number of suspicious alerts, with 24 in the first three months of the calendar year.
That figure represents a 60% year-on-year (YoY) increase from the 15 reported in Q1 2023, while it also marks a 50% rise in relation to the 16 suspicious alerts recorded the previous quarter.
Football made up 43% of all of the suspicious alerts reported to the IBIA in Q1 2024, including 12 alerts from Asia and eight from South America.
Last month, the integrity association confirmed it had joined forces with Genius Sports to launch a global partnership that will focus on anti-match-fixing initiatives.
Genius Sports is already an integrity partner to more than 400 sports organisations and 150 sports leagues, including the English Premier League.
The IBIA has some of the world’s biggest operators as members, including bet365, DraftKings and Flutter.