Sports betting integrity is improving globally.
Suspicious alerts were down 35% year-over-year in 2023, the International Betting Integrity Association reported Wednesday. The IBIA’s global monitoring network received 184 alerts last year, 101 fewer than in 2022 and below the 2019-2022 average of 244.
“The fall in last year’s global alert numbers is encouraging. It confirms that our world-leading monitoring and alert network is making a very important contribution to deterring criminals from seeking to defraud our members and that increased collaboration between IBIA, sports, and regulators is a winning combination.”
- Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA
The 36 alerts in the fourth quarter of 2023 were also down from the 50 reported in Q3.
Soccer leads the way
The majority of suspicious sports betting alerts came from soccer, which had 63 for the year. That is only down slightly from the 67 in 2022 and the 66 in 2021.
Tennis, which has had match-fixing issues for years, is showing signs of cleaning itself up. The sport received the second-most alerts with 54, but that’s a 49% year-over-year decrease.
“The ongoing decrease in tennis alerts, along with notable reductions in table tennis and esports, is very encouraging,” Ali said. “The progress made in tennis over a number of years now demonstrates that successfully identifying and sanctioning match-fixing sends a powerful message to athletes and officials about the risks of engaging in match-fixing.”
The U.K. led all countries with 31 alerts, as Europe contributed to 113 of the 184. The U.S. accounted for 11 alerts while Brazil alone made up 11 of South America’s 20 alerts.
There were 16 in Africa and 17 in Asia, which Ali said is the biggest sports betting integrity threat when it comes to unregulated markets.
Sanctions on the rise
The annual report also found that 21 clubs, players, and officials were sanctioned — an increase from 15 in 2022. Eight tennis players, seven umpires, and four snooker players received sanctions from IBIA-contributed investigations, according to the report.
Once soccer club and one former table tennis player also received sanctions.
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