Following an electric EURO 2024 final that saw Spain claim its record fourth trophy, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has announced via release that there are no integrity concerns following the tournament.
According to the release, UEFA worked closely alongside the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) to preserve the historic tournament’s integrity, including all 24 competing nations attending match-fixing awareness sessions before the tournament. Additionally, match officials were briefed during a preparatory workshop in May in Frankfurt.
“To support in detecting and addressing match-fixing-related concerns and to help collect and analyze information, UEFA reconvened the anti-match-fixing assessment group that was initially established for EURO 2020, leveraging expertise from across Europe,” the release outlined. “No suspicious betting activity was found nor were any other match-fixing concerns relating to matches at EURO 2024 raised.”
Among those included in the anti-match-fixing assessment group were representatives from various international bodies including UEFA, Interpol, and the Council of Europe, sports betting integrity groups alongside IBIA including the United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports, and sports technology company Sportradar.
“Match-fixing is one of the biggest threats to the integrity of the beautiful game,” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin shared prior to the tournament. “It is UEFA’s duty to remain at the vanguard in the fight.”
IBIA at forefront of stopping suspicious betting activity
As the prominence of sports betting integrity continues to grow, alerts have reportedly spiked per the IBIA, with particular prominence in less conventional areas such as eSports.
“The situation is being monitored closely and heightened vigilance advocated as we seek to work with stakeholders to investigate,” IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said in a release earlier this month. “While the increase in alerts may understandably draw attention, it should be noted that eSports saw a significant reduction in annual alerts across IBIA’s membership in 2023.”
In addition to a rise in eSports alerts, 2024 Q2 alerts were primarily comprised of traditional soccer and table tennis concerns, with the trio representing over 80% of all alerts.
“The case again highlights the importance and effectiveness of customer account monitoring in the detection of suspicious betting and the protection of sporting events, consumers, and regulated betting markets,” Ali said.
The IBIA has also been vocal regarding concerns with the Latin American market, with Brazil recently passing legislation mandating sports betting operators to join an independent integrity monitoring body and calls for other LatAm countries to follow suit.
“The ordinance’s stipulation that operators in Brazil must join an independent sports integrity monitoring body is helping to drive growth in IBIA’s membership and in our ability to monitor more betting transactions in Brazil’s regulated market,” said Ali. “Our priorities are to further strengthen our monitoring and alert network and extend our information sharing agreements with partner organizations in Brazil and across the Latin American region.”
