Starlizard flags major spike in suspicious South American football betting

Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) has flagged 79 global football matches for suspicious betting activity in H1, with more than a fifth of those coming from South America.

The integrity firm analysed 36,841 during the period, meaning 0.21% of matches surveyed were flagged as suspicious. 

Although the number of matches flagged remains the same as the corresponding period in 2023, the sample size has grown from the 16,336 matches observed in H1 2023. 

This year’s research showed 33 of the 79 suspicious matches came from South America.

The region represented 41.8% of the total suspicious matches, as well as showing a 200% increase on the 11 suspicious matches flagged in Latam in H1 2023. 

From the South American matches flagged, 17 alerts came from a single unnamed country with six of the matches played in that country’s top domestic league and 11 in its second tier. 

European football accounted for 29 suspicious matches, down from 40 at the same time last year.  

The European football governing body UEFA confirmed no suspicious betting activity occurred during the summer’s Euro 2024 tournament. 

Overall, 23 different countries had a least one integrity alert across domestic men’s football competitions during the reporting period.

Of the 79 flagged games, 11 had a ‘high’ suspicion rating attached to them, with 39 matches deemed to be at the ‘medium’ level of suspicion.

There was also a significant rise in suspicious activity in first-half-only betting markets, with 40 matches (50.6%) stemming from the vertical – up from the 21 matches flagged in 2023.  

Almost two thirds (62%) of suspicious matches came from domestic competitions below the top tier, while 19 matches (24.1%) were played in top-tier domestic competitions. 

Club friendlies also contributed seven suspicious match alerts in the first half of the year (9.1%), although they represented just 4% of the total number of games analysed. 

Affy Sheikh, head of Starlizard Integrity Services, highlighted the “troubling situation” in South American football. 

He said: “The 2024 half-year figures reveal several concerning insights, with few positives to report. In particular, the data highlights a troubling situation in the CONMEBOL region, where the number of suspicious matches has surged by 200% compared to the same period last year.  

“This stark increase serves as a clear reminder that match-fixers are constantly adapting and will exploit any vulnerabilities they find.” 

Sheikh added that current efforts to protect the integrity of football matches are “not effective enough”.

He added: “While the overall percentage of suspicious matches remains low, the data nevertheless shows match-fixing poses a continuing and severe threat to the integrity of the game.  

“Football must engage in serious reflection on how best to tackle this issue, as the persistent lack of improvement in numbers across the board suggests that current efforts and strategies are not effective enough.” 

Last month, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 90 suspicious betting alerts across all sports in Q2.

The warnings came from eight different sports across 25 countries, with esports the most flag sport with 48 alerts.

Back in May, West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paquetá was charged by the Football Association (FA) over allegations he breached betting rules on four occasions over two seasons.  

The midfielder denied the charges and played for Brazil during the summer’s Copa America.