Starlizard reports drop in suspicious football matches for 2024 despite South America spike
Integrity firm highlighted 159 suspicious games over the year, with the percentage of matches flagged in South America three times higher than the global average
Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) has flagged 159 football matches played worldwide in 2024 as suspicious, according to its latest annual report.
The integrity firm analysed a total of 74,386 matches across the year, with 0.21% of games showing “indicators of potential manipulation”.
This figure represented a decrease compared to the 171 suspicious matches recorded in 2023.
SIS categorises matches as suspicious if they are found to have suspect betting patterns associated with them that may be indicative of match-fixing.
Out of the matches flagged, 65 were classed as low suspicion, 73 were medium and 21 were deemed to be highly suspicious.
South America was the region with the highest number of suspicious matches at 67, up 131% from the previous year.
Overall, 0.61% of matches analysed in South America were classed as suspicious, which is almost three times the global average of 0.21%.
The report noted SIS analysed 11.3% more matches in the South American region in 2024 compared to 2023.
Following South America was Europe with 50 suspicious matches, then international fixtures (18), Asia (14), North and Central America (7) and Africa (3).
The report also found there was a higher proportion of club-friendly matches being recorded as suspicious compared to competitive fixtures, with 0.42% of friendlies flagged compared to 0.20% for domestic league, cup and international fixtures.
There was a decrease in the number of suspected youth matches year-on-year (YoY), with three highlighted in 2024 compared to 10 in 2023.
Only a single women’s football match was flagged as suspicious across the year, up from the zero in 2023.
Suspicious betting on first-half-only markets grew YoY, with 38.4% of suspected matches (61 games) solely involving the vertical.
This was the only betting market to increase its number of suspicious matches between 2023 and 2024, with full-time, first-half-only and full-time as well as other markets all decreasing.
Affy Sheikh, head of SIS, said: “We are encouraged by the findings of the 2024 report, which show a slight decrease in the number and proportion of suspicious football matches compared to the previous year.
“Any fall in the level of suspicious matches is to be welcomed as it may indicate that efforts to enhance the integrity of football are making a positive impact. That said, the data also highlights ongoing concerns, particularly an apparent shift towards the South American region.
“This, together with the continued high prevalence of suspicious betting on first half-only markets and the persistence of suspicious activity in friendly matches, underscore the ongoing need for vigilance and robust measures to combat match manipulation.
“Starlizard Integrity Services remain committed to working with our partners across the globe to ensure the integrity of football at all levels, particularly through our Komodo anti-match-fixing platform, which is available for free to sports governing bodies and law enforcement agencies”.