The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has reported 65 cases of suspicious betting to relevant authorities during the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, a 14% decrease compared to Q3 2020, which saw 76 alerts.
The Q3 2021 alerts came from 28 different countries and covered nine different sports. Tennis experienced the most cases with 23, followed by football (18), table tennis (17), esports (two), and one each in handball, cricket, squash, basketball and futsal.
Geographically, Europe accounted for 39 alerts, nearly 60% of all alerts reported during Q3, followed by Asia with 10 alerts, Africa with eight alerts, and North America and South America with three alerts each.
For North America’s alerts, two alerts were for tennis (one in Mexico, one in the US) while the other was for cricket (St Kitts and Nevis). For South America’s alerts, all three came from Brazil, two for football and one for futsal.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “The 65 cases in Q3 brings the nine-month total to 167 alerts, a 17% decrease on the same point in 2020 with 202 alerts. Tennis provided the highest number of alerts during the first three quarters with 47, followed by football with 46, table tennis with 33, and esports with 25 cases. These four sports made up 90% of alerts reported in the first nine months.
Ali also praised the decision made by the Canadian province of Ontario to require all of its licensed betting operators to be part of an integrity monitoring body.
He continued: “The benefits of being part of an international integrity monitoring body continue to be recognized; the association welcomes the decision of the Ontario authorities to require all licensed betting operators to be part of an integrity monitoring body, a position which is already in force in the recently opened market in the Netherlands. IBIA members are well-placed in those markets.”
