A sports betting integrity watchdog reported a notable drop in match-fixing in 2024.
Sportradar Integrity Services identified 1,108 suspicious matches, down 17% year-over-year.
Europe, which continued to be the region with the most integrity issues, saw its suspicious match rate fall 34% from 668 in 2023 to 439 in 2024. Sportradar reported a 36% reduction in Africa, dropping from 108 matches to 69.
South America, however, saw an increase of 27 suspicious matches year-over-year while North America and Asia reported slight increases to eight each.
“Our investment in innovation combined with data insights into the betting industry and continued education on integrity are at the forefront of keeping pace with the ever-evolving global sports integrity landscape,” said Andreas Krannich, Sportradar's executive vice president of integrity, rights protection and regulatory services. “We remain committed to refining our methods and capabilities and collaborating across the sports and betting industries to support foundational fair play and safeguard the integrity of sports worldwide.”
Soccer under fire
Sportradar monitored 850,000 matches across 70 sports.
Soccer remained the most scrutinized sport globally, producing 65% of all match-fixing issues. However, it did see an 18% decrease in suspicious matches compared to 2023. One in every 233 soccer matches was flagged as suspicious, which leads sports worldwide in frequency, according to Sportradar data.
Brazilian soccer, rife with integrity issues in recent years, went from 110 suspicious matches in 2023 to 57 in 2024, a 48% drop. The country no longer leads the world in match-fixing.
Basketball ranked No. 2 among all sports globally with 187 suspicious matches reported, down 18 matches from the previous year. Tennis was third with 69 reports.
Table tennis match-fixing dropped by 29 cases in 2024 while eSports saw 14 fewer reports than in 2023. Handball dropped by nine suspicious matches, and hockey had seven fewer reported in 2024.
Detection and sanctions
Sportradar Integrity Services uses a blend of advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence through its Universal Fraud Detection Systems to monitor games and find irregular betting activities. The AI flags substantial wagers on unlikely outcomes, leading to investigations from Sportradar’s integrity experts.
Over the last two decades, Sportradar has been responsible for detecting 10,000 suspicious matches that have led to 900 sporting and criminal sanctions across 23 sports. Sportradar’s work led to 104 sanctions in 2024, down from 147 in 2023.
The company continues to focus on education to help prevent match-fixing.
“While the notable reduction in suspicious matches in 2024 gives us reason to be optimistic, it also signals the need for continued vigilance and innovation, given that the number remains significant,” Krannich said.
